From the Back Forty: DOGE Captures the Attention of Heartlanders

Editor's Note: From the Back Forty is Liberty Nation's longest-running and most popular weekly column. 

Heartlanders are mostly frugal people – and the monied or wealthy among them … well, they didn’t get there by spree spending. The adage “waste not, want not” is always in the back of the mind, and when DOGE began uncovering the doozies of wasteful government spending, there wasn’t a still tongue at the Foxhole Pub in Williamsport, Indiana – The Crossroads of America, if they do say so themselves. Also on the docket of political talk was the storming of Europe by Vice President JD Vance. This hillbilly’s elegy is far from complete.

DOGE in Action

When President Trump reactivated and renamed the US Digital Services (USDS) into DOGE and put Elon Musk and his minions in charge of rooting out federal waste, middle America knew Trump would somehow keep that campaign promise. In four short weeks, a massive amount of misused funds has been uncovered, and alarming protocols of the federal government have been exposed in front of the elitist media. Sorry – not sorry. Roger Lawrence in Burley, ID, spoke for a lot of heartlanders when he said, “Only the criminals and corrupt people don't like what President Trump is doing.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced the DOGE movement, telling Fox News how reporters left the Oval Office briefing in “sheer silence” after hearing about a limestone mine in Pennsylvania where federal retirement files were housed and processed.

“I was watching the faces of the mainstream media reporters who were in the Oval Office, and there was sheer silence because it appeared that many of them who are supposed to be writing the truth about our federal bureaucracy had no idea that the federal retirement system is being processed deep into the ground and is not computerized,” Leavitt said.

Well, one can’t say Democratic administrations don’t try to recycle.

After a week of left-wing lawmakers barking about being “exposed” over USAID waste and a travesty of ridiculous international money giveaways, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) nearly had a mental breakdown, pleading that DOGE be reined in: “We don’t know what they have on us.”

Sigmund Freud would have the time of his life if he was around to witness American politics in the 2020s.

Hoosier Gary Klusczinski opined: “Thing is there’s so much of it. You start to understand why this country has a 2 trillion-dollar deficit every year. I don’t see how any American could be against finding such waste. But those who are receiving that money are gonna fight it. Those are the ones to question, not the ones looking for the waste.”

One random comment from an unnamed progressive started a brawl: “Believing that billionaires are fighting for the working class requires an almost comical level of delusion.”

Brenda Link in Bridgeport, TN, responded: “I would say if you still believed USAID is a humanitarian organization, you, Sir, are beyond help! The majority of Americans (MAGA as you pointed out) believe in Elon and Trump! You have TDS and MDS and sadly, there is no cure, not even facts. Just go back to watching MSNBC until you are robbed blind but keep the TDS and MDS going … it makes all the thievery and skullduggery easier to live with.”

And it seems Ms. Link is correct: A new CBS News poll shows 53% of Americans approve of Trump’s administration so far, with 70% saying Trump is following through on his campaign vows.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and they are revealing the rot of this city every single day. It’s music to the ears of the American people who voted for this,” Leavitt said.

The Roast to Rival 1776

Vice President JD Vance stormed the Munich Security Conference on Friday and roasted an entire room of uptight Europeans in the process. Heartlanders watched the vice president eloquently and politely dress down Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, and other European countries for targeting religious citizens and for censorship, citing “hateful content.” Those present couldn’t quite understand how the handsome American with a bright smile and a good command of the English language could be so “improper.”

Vance told attendees that their nations abandoned “some of their most fundamental values,” citing Romania for canceling its presidential election to guard against Russian interference and for the arrests of citizens freely expressing themselves. He mentioned military veteran and father Adam Smith-Connor for silently praying within a “buffer zone” surrounding an abortion clinic in the United Kingdom, causing him to pay 9,000 euros in prosecution fees.

The vice president also told European leaders, “If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.” There was very little applause.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was miffed and politely rebuked the VP: "That is not appropriate, especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject that."

But guess who did not reject the remarks: heartlanders. Gary Maddox in Indianapolis commented: “Gotta love this hillbilly!” And in Brighton, MI, Jennifer Deacon Lowe added: “He’s a Beast and I love it!”