Latest news with #EastGermans
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wichita veteran recounts career taking intelligence photos for the Air Force
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A Wichita veteran spent nearly 25 years flying high with the Air Force, capturing countless intelligence photos along the way. Ron Bogard is a native of Picher, Oklahoma, who migrated to Wichita and graduated from Wichita West High School in 1965. He joined the Air Force after getting drafted, and through his training, discovered what would become a lifelong passion. 'I didn't know a thing about photography. Nothing. Mom gave me a Kodak Brownie when I was about 10 years old, and I don't think I shot three rolls of film through it. But I went to tech school, and it turned out I had a talent for it,' he said. Bogard was soon stationed at the base photolab at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, shooting everything from military ceremonies and portraits to medical photography and documenting deadly auto and industrial accidents. 'I've been able to put a lot of things away and keep them away. And I've done that for my whole career,' he said. Bogard eventually received the call to head to Vietnam, and after completing additional training, including combat photography school, he was on his way, but he didn't stay long. 'I reported in, and the 1st sergeant came out and said, 'Bogard, go back over there, you're going to Thailand. We need aerial photographers in Thailand,'' he said. Bogard says he didn't mind the safer assignment, where he continued to shoot photos from the air, as well as some impressive ones on the ground. 'I was there for President Johnson when he came. I was one of the photographers that took his pictures,' he said. Tune into KSN News at 10 every Wednesday for our Veteran Salute Bogard was eventually sent back to Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, where he joined a photo mapping unit and soon found himself flying over numerous South American countries, creating aerial maps. After taking an early discharge, Bogard returned to Wichita to attend Wichita State University. However, after getting married, he chose to re-enlist. His second round with the Air Force sent him to Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where he photographed bomb and missile tests for the next nine years. 'Loved every minute of it. We raised our kids in the mountains and the deserts. We camped all the time,' Bogard said. But he wasn't done gathering aerial intelligence overseas, and his next mission was a highly classified one in Germany. 'Our job was to spy on the East Germans and the Russians. We flew into the Berlin Corridor, flew around the Berlin Circle and then would fly out,' Bogard said. He spent four years taking photos around the Berlin Wall and was eventually sent back to South Carolina, where he was in charge of aerial video and even wrote a training manual. However, when another overseas assignment came up, his wife put her foot down. 'The time came where we got an assignment to Panama. Brenda put her foot down, and I'm in Wichita,' Bogard said. And while Bogard wrapped up his Air Force career in 1989 as a senior master sergeant, his love for photography continues to this day. If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, send an email to connect3news@ or fill out our online contact form! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Dear Don, you've been conned and all the whole world can see it
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies."
CBS News
20-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
The dangers posed by cuts to U.S. foreign aid
You've no doubt heard by now that Elon Musk has been tasked with slashing the federal budget. His symbolic weapon of choice: a very large chainsaw. An early target: The U.S. Agency for International Development (or USAID). Charging waste, fraud and abuse at the agency, the world's richest man is leading a campaign that will cut assistance to some of the world's poorest people. "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die," Musk wrote on X. That theme comes from the top. On February 11, President Trump said, "The USAID is really corrupt, I'll tell you. It's corrupt. It's incompetent and it's really corrupt." And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt provides the harmony, telling reporters on February 3, "I don't know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don't want my dollars going towards this crap." No worries: the administration is effectively dissolving the agency, cutting thousands of staff and billions in aid , and merging what remains with the State Department. Changes are still underway, but the message is clear: the U.S. has new priorities. David Miliband was British foreign secretary and a Member of Parliament. For the past 12 years he's been president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. The IRC delivers humanitarian aid to some of the most vulnerable people in the world. So far, says Miliband, the cuts have affected about 40% of their international programs. "We're hearing two very different things from the administration," said Miliband. "One is that there are some areas of aid they're definitely going to cut. Education, out. Climate resilience, out. "The second thing we're hearing is they want to review all aid that is life-saving, and they'll come back to us with conclusions about the future of the international aid program," he said. Albert Einstein helped found the IRC in the 1930s to assist refugees from Nazi Germany. During the Cold War, they were looking for ways to pierce the Iron Curtain. It distributed a million pounds of butter to East Germans. Humanitarian aid? Certainly. But with a giant dollop of propaganda. Seventy-odd years ago, it was butter in Berlin. These days, it's a life-saving paste for malnourished children provided at the five stabilization centers the IRC runs in Nigeria. The program's grant was initially terminated, then it received a waiver. But the grant ends in May, with no word about what's next. Cutting funding for a children's clinic like this one, program manager Dr. Okechi Ogueji told me, means that babies will die. "It will be catastrophic," he said. "We need every support from everywhere." The IRC's stockpile of treatments in Nigeria is dwindling from an already-disrupted U.S. aid supply chain. Miliband said, "I think people are scratching their heads, because they wonder: where is the American heart? And they wonder: how is that going to show itself in government policy?" In the Afghan village of Bati Kot, outside Jalalabad, U.S. government policy comes sweeping in on alternating waves of good news and bad news. Dr. Shafiq Hashimi is the head of the clinic in Bati Kot, one of 22 clinics run by the IRC in Afghanistan, but significantly funded by USAID. "Today alone, I registered five cases of measles, which is highly contagious," Hashimi said. "I see around 130 patients a day. I only pause for lunch and prayer." Over the past few weeks, the U.S. grants for the clinics have been defunded, re-funded, and defunded again. "The situation in Afghanistan ever since the stop-work orders from the U.S. government has created a sense of confusion amongst operational humanitarian organizations," said Sherine Ibrahim, the IRC's Afghanistan director in Kabul. "It has also set panic within communities that have relied on humanitarian support for many years. And it has compromised our relationships with the authorities that exist today in Afghanistan. It has compromised our ability to ensure acceptance within communities who ask us, 'Why is this happening?'" One woman told us, "If this support is stopped, the condition of poor people like us will worsen, possibly even leading to death. Your support has changed our lives." On January 27, in a speech to the Congressional Institute, President Trump said, "We get tired of giving massive amounts of money to countries that hate us, don't we?" The State Department made that position official, telling "CBS Sunday Morning": "The Afghanistan grants have been terminated based on credible concerns that U.S. money was benefitting the Taliban." [See below for more of the State Department's statement.] I asked Ibrahim, "The question is being reframed by the American government: Why help people who are our declared enemies? Why do that?" "I believe that it is in the interests of the global community to stabilize countries," she replied, "to ensure that their populations are living in dignity, and that people do not seek a dignified living elsewhere." "I want to make sure that people fully understand what you just said: I know there are many people in the United States who say, 'All these illegal aliens, we've gotta find a way to stop the flood.' And you're saying part of the answer is to make things livable in the countries from which they come?" "Absolutely," Ibrahim replied. "And not just livable, but in places where people can thrive. And I do believe that there is a benefit to the United States, and to the global community, for us to continue that investment." That is not the Trump administration's position. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, "We're not the government of the world. No, we'll provide humanitarian assistance, just like everybody else does, and we will do it the best we can. But we also have other needs we have to balance that against." I asked Miliband, "The idea that we have a lot of suffering going on in this country, a lot of poverty, a lot of illness – why not take care of our own first?" "I think that the administration definitely believes that charity begins at home, and I don't argue with that," Miliband said. "My argument is: Charity shouldn't end at home. And international aid is 0.2% of the U.S. economy, not 25% of federal spending. It's a strategic investment, it's a moral investment, and it's an impactful investment." Because? "If you've got people in need, and you can help them and you don't, it's a sin," Miliband said. "But also, when you don't help people in need, instability follows. We know that as much as night follows day. And problems that start in a faraway part of the world don't stay in a faraway part of the world. It's been true throughout history for the movement of people. Today it's true for health insecurities. We learned that in the pandemic. If we think that we can only solve our own problems without solving other people's problems, we're gonna run into trouble." For more info: State Department Comment The following statement was provided to "CBS Sunday Morning" by a senior State Department official: Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio, U.S. foreign assistance will be transformed into a short-term, targeted, and transactional force that fiercely prioritizes America's interests, delivers undeniable benefits to our nation, empowers self-reliance, and builds strategic partnerships to advance our national security and global influence. The Department of State and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously. The implementation of President Trump's Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid and the Secretary's direction furthers that mission. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said , "Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?" Consistent with Secretary Rubio's statements, USAID's continuing programs advance the core national interests of the United States. For example, USAID continues to support the U.S.- coordinated, interagency response to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda; to provide lifesaving HIV care and treatment services; to provide emergency assistance in conflict zones; and to support key American strategic partners. Ensuring we have the right mix of programs to support U.S. national security and other core national interests of the United States requires an agile approach. We will continue to make changes as needed. Life-saving Humanitarian Aid Continues As Secretary Rubio said , "We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens. We are continuing essential life-saving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country." This transition is focused on improving accountability and strategic coordination – not eliminating our commitment to vulnerable populations and allies. Critical, life-saving programs have continued uninterrupted as we strengthen how, where, and why we deliver humanitarian aid to ensure it serves those who need it most. For example, USAID has multiple active contracts for ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) production and several shipments pending routine checks with the interagency, including nearly $300 million in active humanitarian assistance related awards in Nigeria at this time. Additionally, USAID has previously purchased RUTFs, and is making determinations on where to ship. PEPFAR Continues PEPFAR's care, treatment, and PMTCT services are operational for 85% of beneficiaries. We resolved the critical bottleneck in our commodity program by completing payments to our central procurement and distribution implementing partner. For the remaining 15% of beneficiaries, State and USAID are working to rebalance awards, discontinuing non-priority activities to focus on core life-saving services. We are enhancing service delivery efficiency and advancing PEPFAR partner countries toward self-reliance, with notable progress in the last two months. Support for the World Food Program Continues, while Funds Benefiting Terrorist Groups Ends USAID has terminated less than 15% of WFP awards, maintaining over 100 active programs with WFP, a key partner. Terminations, including programs in Yemen and Afghanistan, were due to credible, longstanding concerns about funds benefiting terrorist groups like the Houthis and Taliban, or because they did not align with America First priorities. Additional awards in Afghanistan, including awards targeting healthcare, were terminated based on longstanding and credible concerns that U.S. foreign assistance funding was benefiting the Taliban, a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Communication With and Support for USAID Personnel Continues Like any restructuring, there will inevitably be disruptions. From Secretary Rubio down, we are committed to ensuring that USAID personnel remain safe and that the Agency's ongoing life-saving aid programs remain both intact and operational. State and USAID leadership are focused on providing the smoothest transitions possible to minimize disruption and ensure the continued safety and wellness of our personnel, and the orderly repatriation of colleagues posted overseas. All overseas personnel will receive a USAID-funded return PCS, with a departure date that will be considered as the employee's end-of-tour date. No employee benefits, including pension or retirement benefits, have been impacted during this period, nor will they be affected through the point of separation. There is a process in place to request reasonable and medical accommodations, which employees have already been doing. This process has been spelled out in communications to employees, as well as follow up notices and documents. The Secretary of State has taken extraordinary action to ensure that USAID personnel and their family members on medical evacuation status (including for obstetric care) can complete that medical evacuation before being separated. For expectant mothers, the regulations allow for 45 days before the expected delivery date and end 45 days after delivery, or potentially longer when there is a documented neo-natal or maternal complication (or other medical need). While overseas, USAID personnel will remain under Chief of Mission authority, and will retain full access to the Medical Unit, DPO/Pouch, and Post-provided housing until their official departure date. Reduction in Force (RIF) letters outlined a process for correcting potential errors, acknowledging the possibility of inaccuracies. Letters noted that the information reflects what is currently on file and encouraged employees to report any inaccuracies. Benefits will be based on official personnel records, not the letter, once updates are made. Story produced by Dustin Stephens. Editor: Ed Givnish.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Laughing in the Face of ‘Overwhelming Malice'
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. When I was in high school, my classmates and I marveled at the biting sarcasm of our Spanish teacher. (Shout-out to the peerless Señor Householder.) When someone finally asked him about his sense of humor, he attributed it to growing up during Francisco Franco's regime: Under a repressive government, citizens gravitated to sarcastic jokes because they were a form of dissent more likely to escape official notice or punishment. I'm not sure why that anecdote has stuck with me for so long, but as the Trump administration seeks to ban disfavored language and disappear people, it's felt disconcertingly relevant. Although journalists have long been aficionados of black humor—working in a collapsing industry will do that to you—I've sensed an uptick in black humor among others in my life recently. Living in a collapsing democracy will do that to you. 'It's a way of expressing solidarity in the face of overwhelming malice. Authoritarians depend on an appearance of inevitability, and satire and mockery at least help to undermine that, a (very) little bit,' the cartoonist Dan Perkins, better known as Tom Tomorrow, wrote to me in an email. 'Satire provides an outlet, for both creator and reader—at the very least, you can laugh at the malevolent incompetence of it all.' Laughter is also self-defense. Sigmund Freud, who knew a thing or two about collapsing societies, argued that 'humor acknowledges the existence of the threatening affect and transforms it through the mechanisms … into pleasurable affect,' the psychologists Maria Christoff and Barry Dauphin write, translating Freud into (slightly) more intelligible terms. That defense mechanism becomes more important in times of repression or chaos. In 1930s Poland, for example, Yiddish-language 'joke pages' flourished. Yiddish humor 'has often been characterized by a high degree of self-reflection in the form of self-irony … and read as a response to or defence against the steadily deteriorating living conditions of Jews in eastern Europe and elsewhere,' Anne-Christin Klotz and Gwen Jones wrote recently. Sardonic jokes circulated like samizdat in Communist East Germany. One gag: 'Did East Germans originate from apes? Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year.' And like samizdat, this humor could get you in serious trouble: 64 East Germans were imprisoned for telling political jokes. Naturally, this became fodder for meta jokes: 'There are people who tell jokes. There are people who collect jokes and tell jokes. And there are people who collect people who tell jokes.' Absurdity can seem like the only recourse in a situation where the state is, itself, absurd. After snarky Chinese social-media users noticed a striking similarity between Xi Jinping and Winnie-the-Pooh, the bear became a popular online stand-in for Xi, thus leading the government to at times censor Pooh images. (Commissars are more horrible than any heffalump could ever be.) Authoritarian leaders are adept at using humor for their own political purposes. Stephen Gundle writes that Italian fascists 'were loud, raucous and thuggish and they prided themselves on their coarse, swaggering manner.' Their laughter, he writes, 'was cruel, crude and mocking.' Perhaps this sounds familiar. The television critic Emily Nussbaum wrote in 2017 that jokes were an important part of Donald Trump's appeal and success: 'His rallies boiled with rage and laughter, which were hard to tell apart. You didn't have to think that Trump himself was funny to see this effect: I found him repulsive, and yet I could hear those comedy rhythms everywhere.' She wondered, 'How do you fight an enemy who's just kidding?' With jokes, of course. The journalist M. Gessen wrote in 2018 about how humor can be a tool of resistance against cruel totalitarian humor. 'Jokes,' they wrote, 'reclaim the goodness of laughter, for regimes weaponize laughter to mock their opponents, creating what the cultural theorist Svetlana Boym called 'totalitarian laughter.' Its opposite is anti-totalitarian laughter.' Unlike citizens in a democracy, not all laughter is created equal. The comedian Sarah Cooper's impressions of Trump were wildly popular among the president's opponents during his first term. Watching them now, I feel not so much that her videos have aged poorly but that I can't recall why they seemed comedic in the first place. Conventional satire also seems overmatched. What room is there for hyperbole when a 19-year-old known as 'Big Balls' has been rampaging through the federal government, perhaps even accessing confidential data? By contrast, the Sweet Meteor of Death—a meme popularized in 2016 by anti-Trump conservatives who preferred a fiery end to life over either Trump or Hillary Clinton—still feels timely, perhaps because it is so bleak. Macabre jokes may also have special appeal in a moment when high-achieving knowledge workers are targets of Trump's repression—according to some research, black humor is associated with higher levels of education. Humor can be a defense mechanism, as Freud argued, but part of the power of the blacker variants is that they acknowledge their own limitations. 'I'm sure my wry, observational wit will provide great solace to the other residents of my cell block when I'm eventually renditioned to CECOT!' Perkins told me. One hopes he's only joking. Related: The most striking thing about Trump's mockery of Christine Blasey Ford Radio Atlantic: Laughing at Trump (From 2024) Here are three new stories from The Atlantic: The harem of Elon Musk Is the GOP about to raise taxes? Trump is flirting with economic disaster. Today's News The suspected gunman in yesterday's Florida State University shooting, which killed two people and injured six others, is in custody. Senator Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador yesterday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump will walk away from Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations if progress isn't made in a matter of days. Dispatches Atlantic Intelligence: A new social network is reportedly on the horizon for OpenAI. But is it what the tech company needs? Damon Beres asks Charlie Warzel. The Books Briefing: Diane DiMassa's Hothead Paisan comics are full of unrestrained, devil-may-care attitude, Emma Sarappo writes. Explore all of our newsletters here. Evening Read About That 'Possible Sign of Life' on a Distant Planet By Ross Andersen Few forms of media can still grab the general public's lapels and say, 'The world has changed in an important way, and you should know about it, now' like a push notification from The New York Times. On Wednesday evening, a particularly enticing one from the Times flashed across millions of lock screens. 'Astronomers detected a possible signature of life on a planet orbiting a star 120 light-years away,' it read. Soon after, The Washington Post followed up with a notification of its own, using similar language about a possible sign of life found on a distant planet called K2-18b. The word possible is doing load-bearing—if not Atlas-like—work in these headlines. Read the full article. More From The Atlantic The lies about Josh Shapiro have consequences, Yair Rosenberg writes. The conservative case for leaving Harvard alone PBS pulled a film for political reasons, then changed its mind. A trade war with China is a very bad idea. Culture Break Watch. Sinners (out in theaters) slowly drops its period-drama trappings to become something much scarier, David Sims writes. Sit with it. Adolescence (streaming on Netflix) plunges viewers into the mindset of a troubled boy—even if it makes them uncomfortable, Paula Mejía writes. Play our daily crossword. Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Atlantic
When Laughing Feels Like the Only Option
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. When I was in high school, my classmates and I marveled at the biting sarcasm of our Spanish teacher. (Shout-out to the peerless Señor Householder.) When someone finally asked him about his sense of humor, he attributed it to growing up during Francisco Franco's regime: Under a repressive government, citizens gravitated to sarcastic jokes because they were a form of dissent more likely to escape official notice or punishment. I'm not sure why that anecdote has stuck with me for so long, but as the Trump administration seeks to ban disfavored language and disappear people, it's felt disconcertingly relevant. Although journalists have long been aficionados of black humor—working in a collapsing industry will do that to you—I've sensed an uptick in black humor among others in my life recently. Living in a collapsing democracy will do that to you. 'It's a way of expressing solidarity in the face of overwhelming malice. Authoritarians depend on an appearance of inevitability, and satire and mockery at least help to undermine that, a (very) little bit,' the cartoonist Dan Perkins, better known as Tom Tomorrow, wrote to me in an email. 'Satire provides an outlet, for both creator and reader—at the very least, you can laugh at the malevolent incompetence of it all.' Laughter is also self-defense. Sigmund Freud, who knew a thing or two about collapsing societies, argued that 'humor acknowledges the existence of the threatening affect and transforms it through the mechanisms … into pleasurable affect,' the psychologists Maria Christoff and Barry Dauphin write, translating Freud into (slightly) more intelligible terms. That defense mechanism becomes more important in times of repression or chaos. In 1930s Poland, for example, Yiddish-language 'joke pages' flourished. Yiddish humor 'has often been characterized by a high degree of self-reflection in the form of self-irony … and read as a response to or defence against the steadily deteriorating living conditions of Jews in eastern Europe and elsewhere,' Anne-Christin Klotz and Gwen Jones wrote recently. Sardonic jokes circulated like samizdat in Communist East Germany. One gag: 'Did East Germans originate from apes? Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year.' And like samizdat, this humor could get you in serious trouble: 64 East Germans were imprisoned for telling political jokes. Naturally, this became fodder for meta jokes: 'There are people who tell jokes. There are people who collect jokes and tell jokes. And there are people who collect people who tell jokes.' Absurdity can seem like the only recourse in a situation where the state is, itself, absurd. After snarky Chinese social-media users noticed a striking similarity between Xi Jinping and Winnie-the-Pooh, the bear became a popular online stand-in for Xi, thus leading the government to at times censor Pooh images. (Commissars are more horrible than any heffalump could ever be.) Authoritarian leaders are adept at using humor for their own political purposes. Stephen Gundle writes that Italian fascists 'were loud, raucous and thuggish and they prided themselves on their coarse, swaggering manner.' Their laughter, he writes, 'was cruel, crude and mocking.' Perhaps this sounds familiar. The television critic Emily Nussbaum wrote in 2017 that jokes were an important part of Donald Trump's appeal and success: 'His rallies boiled with rage and laughter, which were hard to tell apart. You didn't have to think that Trump himself was funny to see this effect: I found him repulsive, and yet I could hear those comedy rhythms everywhere.' She wondered, 'How do you fight an enemy who's just kidding?' With jokes, of course. The journalist M. Gessen wrote in 2018 about how humor can be a tool of resistance against cruel totalitarian humor. 'Jokes,' they wrote, 'reclaim the goodness of laughter, for regimes weaponize laughter to mock their opponents, creating what the cultural theorist Svetlana Boym called 'totalitarian laughter.' Its opposite is anti-totalitarian laughter.' Unlike citizens in a democracy, not all laughter is created equal. The comedian Sarah Cooper's impressions of Trump were wildly popular among the president's opponents during his first term. Watching them now, I feel not so much that her videos have aged poorly but that I can't recall why they seemed comedic in the first place. Conventional satire also seems overmatched. What room is there for hyperbole when a 19-year-old known as 'Big Balls' has been rampaging through the federal government, perhaps even accessing confidential data? By contrast, the Sweet Meteor of Death —a meme popularized in 2016 by anti-Trump conservatives who preferred a fiery end to life over either Trump or Hillary Clinton—still feels timely, perhaps because it is so bleak. Macabre jokes may also have special appeal in a moment when high-achieving knowledge workers are targets of Trump's repression—according to some research, black humor is associated with higher levels of education. Humor can be a defense mechanism, as Freud argued, but part of the power of the blacker variants is that they acknowledge their own limitations. 'I'm sure my wry, observational wit will provide great solace to the other residents of my cell block when I'm eventually renditioned to CECOT!' Perkins told me. One hopes he's only joking. The harem of Elon Musk Is the GOP about to raise taxes? Trump is flirting with economic disaster. Today's News The suspected gunman in yesterday's Florida State University shooting, which killed two people and injured six others, is in custody. Senator Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador yesterday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump will walk away from Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations if progress isn't made in a matter of days. Dispatches Atlantic Intelligence: A new social network is reportedly on the horizon for OpenAI. But is it what the tech company needs? Damon Beres asks Charlie Warzel. The Books Briefing: Diane DiMassa's Hothead Paisan comics are full of unrestrained, devil-may-care attitude, Emma Sarappo writes. Evening Read About That 'Possible Sign of Life' on a Distant Planet By Ross Andersen Few forms of media can still grab the general public's lapels and say, 'The world has changed in an important way, and you should know about it, now' like a push notification from The New York Times. On Wednesday evening, a particularly enticing one from the Times flashed across millions of lock screens. 'Astronomers detected a possible signature of life on a planet orbiting a star 120 light-years away,' it read. Soon after, The Washington Post followed up with a notification of its own, using similar language about a possible sign of life found on a distant planet called K2-18b. The word possible is doing load-bearing—if not Atlas-like—work in these headlines. More From The Atlantic Watch. Sinners (out in theaters) slowly drops its period-drama trappings to become something much scarier, David Sims writes. Sit with it. Adolescence (streaming on Netflix) plunges viewers into the mindset of a troubled boy —even if it makes them uncomfortable, Paula Mejía writes.
