Every December 23, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) releases a “Festivus Report” based on the spoof holiday featured in the 1990s television show “Seinfeld.” On this made-up holiday, people would engage in an annual “airing of grievances,” and when it comes to wasteful government spending, each year Paul always has a very long list of beefs.
But this year, in finding over $1 trillion in wasteful, stupid spending, like $12 million for a pickleball complex, $15 million in new furniture for empty federal offices, $873,000 for film making in Jordan, and over $400,000 to study lonely rats, there appears to be some substantial spending related to Washington's ongoing role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Th 2024 ‘Festivus Report’ reveals that, “despite American taxpayers providing nearly $174 billion in aid and military assistance to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, someone over at State thought it was a brilliant idea to drop an additional $4.8 Million for ‘KYIV, Ukraine public affairs - Influencer Staff.’”
That’s right. Apparently the U.S. government was bankrolling Ukrainian TikTokers and Instagram personalities. To the tune of $4.8 million.
“Apparently, what we really need in a war zone are more Instagram stories and TikTok dances. The dangers here are more than just cringeworthy content; this kind of spending opens the door to disinformation, propaganda, and international PR disasters. And don’t even get me started on the potential to escalate tensions with other nations.”
Sen. Paul proceeds to mock the funding’s aim: “after all, nothing says ‘peacekeeping’ like a viral video.”
More “Festivus” airing of the grievances: “But the absurdity doesn’t end there. The State Department also splurged $15,220 on an ‘influencers event’ and another $22,231 on a ‘USAID Social Media Influencers Campaign.”
Think of the billions the U.S. has sent to fuel this war and so many of the lives lost. So many needlessly.
Now think of those at the State Department who thought it so important to prolong the war that they were going to concentrate on and fund some of the most insignificant propaganda actors in the conflict.
“At a time when Americans are scraping by, it’s baffling to see our government burning through taxpayer dollars on what amounts to a glorified selfie-fest,” Paul surmises.
“We need to remind the government that taxpayer dollars should be used to protect our nation’s interests, not to fund the next viral sensation,” the senator added. “Let’s leave the Instagram fame to someone else and get back to serious diplomacy.”
The State Department declined the comment over the weekend as it had not yet seen Sen. Paul's report.
In September, federal prosecutors accused Russia of funding right-wing influencers in the United States to produce pro-Kremlin content. The validity of that claim isn’t important here. The fact that, at least according to Paul’s report, the United States appears to be doing essentially the same thing, only from a pro-Ukraine and/or pro-U.S. perspective, indicates that engaging in this level of propaganda is now seen as necessary by all involved.
But the senator is correct: How many Americans would be comfortable with their tax dollars going to Ukrainian TikTokers?
That’s a question you shouldn’t expect to hear from the U.S. government. But it’s a question you could reasonably expect to hear in the future from Sen. Rand Paul to the State Department.
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A U.S. Army M113 armored personnel carrier guards a street near the destroyed Panamanian Defense Force headquarters building during the second day of Operation Just Cause, Dec. 20 ,1989. (Dod photo)
General Manuel Noriega is escorted onto American military aircraft by DEA agents shortly after his surrender and arrest in Panama, Jan, 3, 1989. (Public domain/Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files)
