I think Musk is an absolute danger to our country as a whole. He should be considered an enemy of the State. And he should be deported this very minute for breaking the law when he was not yet a citizen. The deportation should be done tomorrow.
People are calling him President Musk because he is essentially eclipsing Trump as even an elected official.
My G-d who is this man? He has not been elected to any office. He has not been vetted by ANY government agency. He isn’t even a naturalized citizen. How is he even let near any governmental business? And the Republicans were touting that Biden was weak. Trump doesn’t even have the strength, guts, or brains to tell Musk to take a hike. Frankly, I think Trump is AFRAID of Musk. He opened the bottle, and now can’t get the bugger back inside.
Jail for treason would better help the world. But we need to make big changes in the US to stop others of similar ilk. Thump is such a horrible person that the reasons for disliking him are front & center. Musk & his kind have now learnt how to takeover governments everywhere.
So he is NOT a natural born citizen and cannot be President, although it appears he THINKS he can be as he dictates directly to Congress what his desires are because he THINKS he paid for the privilege.
Musk’s Wikipedia page contradicts the common belief that he’s not a US citizen. Wiki claims he became a naturalized American citizen in 2002. That said, I think his behavior and actions are clearly Un-American & agree that he is a danger to the republic, for which it stands….😏
But he was not born here and violated the rules on working here while not a citizen and therefore his citizenship is not legal and he should be deported. There is no statute of limitations on his illegal behavior.
The disastrously slow response to the 1/6 incident by the US DOJ identified a major problem for our current system of government. The “Lawless” are executing encrypted financial transactions. The DOJ is hand counting the penny jar. Not difficult to imagine how this turns out?!
Just look how long it took to put Al Capone behind bars. Our core creed is innocent until proven guilty. And in criminal cases it takes unanimity. It takes a lot of work, careful plotting *and time* to make sure your case is air tight. Every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted. Just look at Fani Willis. One error and a case which could have put Trump behind bars essentially got scuttled.
I like to think of the process like a viral infection. Viruses replicate in a host unimpeded and suddenly attack. The body then has to build defense and battle the virus down and then reinstate normality. That takes time.
I think Trump will do all he can to maintain a gpod working relationship with Elon! It is gong to be intersting to seee how the relationship plays out!
We all have citizens united to thank for this. Who could imagine that the Supreme Court could be so short sighted to open the floodgates to buying elections.
If the democrats had won, what Musk has done and how he has ignored security clearance reporting Musk would be considered a threat to national security and his companies involving space travel and starlink would be taken over by the government as a matter of national security.
Getting rid of this pestilence of a person {and I do not use language like that lightly} requires FIRST ensuring that he cannot blithlely order the shutdown of his Starlink satellites to our Internet and strategic communications. He has contracts that cover incredibly strategic elements of our national security. With his mercurial tendencies — we are walking a knife’s edge with this man…. Stupid, stupid, stupid … That needs to be remedied, and remedied soon!
Who’s talking about Biden? Musk has insinuated himself into the fabric of the WORLD’S security apparatus … Time for everyone to start thinking about how to undo that … Trump is not going to try, I’m ready to guess … Intelligent people the world over need to at least start to wake up …
Over the past few years, a number of commentators on this blog have speculated as to what might happen if Trump was both smart and not lazy. In the persona of Elon Musk I think we are seeing some of this. I find Musk a vile creature but he is smart and he’s not lazy. I think we’re seeing in real time what he intends to accomplish within the United States. And it’s not going to be pretty. But at this point I am even more troubled by his various shenanigans in the UK, in Germany and elsewhere and his seemingly constant interactions with Xi and Putin. I think what we’re watching is a guy who literally wants to control the world. He’s doing it differently from Hitler, but I think their goals are the same.
Muck may or may not be smart. What he is indisputably is ill-informed, ignorant of U.S. law and customs, and too arrogant to learn before acting. This man will be dangerous locally and globally only *if* he wises up. This past week's disruption was a test of concept that mostly just left egg on his face.
Musk still got what he wanted. He is cunning. The following is from "Letters from an American" by Heather Cox Richardson.
In the end, Congress passed a bill much like the one Musk scuttled, but one of the provisions that Congress stripped out of the old bill was extraordinarily important to Musk. As David Dayen explained in The Prospect, the original agreement had an “outbound investment” provision that restricted the ability of Americans to invest in technology factories in China. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bob Casey (D-PA) had collaborated on the measure, hoping to keep cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as the jobs they would create, in America rather than let companies move them to China.
As Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) explained, Musk is building big factories in China and wants to build an AI data center there, even though it could endanger U.S. security. McGovern charged that Musk’s complaints about the spending in the bill were cover for his determination to tank the provision that would limit his ability to move technology and business to China. And, he noted, it worked. The outbound investment provision was stripped out of the bill before it passed. (Heather Cox Richardson)
It’s important for us to keep track of things like THIS … gotta read the small print. Know the details. Thanks
{NOW, how do we make a loud enough noise among active US citizens to get action on this provision RENEWED? We already had restrictions against offshoring some technologies, but we were not careful enough to prevent someone from sending our battery technology to a plant in China {look it up}.
I think we are so shocked that we are immobilized. I cannot understand why there are no protests (as I sit here reading about the horrifics in my quiet living room). Where is our collective outrage? What even is our collective?
the re-structuring of the mission of the Dem Party has to be re-calibrated....new coalitions formed...when bones are broken you can see how cells link together on an Xray arching over to reach each other's side to bridge the gap.... healing takes time and immobilization is actually necessary... meanwhile let those utter failures try to buy the world while they sink into the pit of their own demise and see that money can't buy love and adulation is hollow as the soulless monstrous ego that hides behind its pretenses.
No, they are NOT the “larger half.” Just the bunch wh have been working on skewing the way our system works, AND miseducating so many of ur kids for too long, plus gerrymandering to maximize the “rural” advantage they have in Congress … Well, the Left has a job to do … But the left is fully half {I think a lot more than half} of the country … What is our next step?
But they dont know what we know.. YET. But they will soon enough.. Im done swimming up stream. The tide will change when Trumps policies go into effect.
Our collective outrage is here and there and everywhere.. I think we need to let them eat their own first.. Let Trumps policies take hold and his base will turn on him eventually. Im sitting back to enjoy the show.. theres nothing to be done until the mid terms anyway
Musk knows that the energy needed to supply AI data centers and technology is in China, not the US. The US is way WAY behind China supplying energy. It will be interesting to see how Musk manipulates things in his favour.. Daddy will get what Daddy wants because Daddy has all the money
There are too many variables to predict anything. Will Trump decide Musk is too popular and discard him? Is Trump an evil genius or is he marginally retarded? What does he really want? To run more grifts on the US government? Will the rest of the world see what a disaster getting into bed with Musk causes in the US and reject him? Or not?
I think the rest of the world, except maybe Putin, will not take kindly to a billionaire telling them what to do. My English husband assures me that the British people are going to be royally pissed off if Muck tries to meddle in their affairs. I suspect many Europeans agree, and I'm sure the Canadians do. People are proud of their countries and their cultures. They don't like interlopers. And many of them resent trying to be bought.
If Musk continues to "trump" Trump, Trump will not be happy. I can't imagine a friendship like that continuing for long, which is my hope. However, if Trump decides to just be president in name only, while he avoids all the court cases against him and the risk of going to jail, then we might see Musk as the one making all the decisions. Scary.
I hope you're right. I tend to lean towards optimism, but Washington has surprised me before with their lack of morals. The rest of the world, yes they won't just let a Musk power-grab happen, but in the US, I've become doubtful. I'll be glad to be proven wrong!
Yes, wouldn't it be fantastic it if Biden arrested Musk for treason the moment he returns from his European vacation stirring up the sleeping dragons of yore. And nationalize his Starlink satellites. And space biz. We paid enough subsidies to him.
A normal person might see their way to do that, but Trump is a malignant narcissist, and the MOST IMPORTANT TASK IN THE WORLD for one of those is to protect their “image.’ At all costs, Trump will try to protect his image. If Musk upstages him too often, he will strike — or he’ll try to. Let’s see what matters most to Musk? Hmmmmmmm!!!!!
It’s actually no secret that Trump is a dork. If anyone paid attention to him over the many years he has forced his way into the public eye {starting out by putting his name is GIANT letters on all kimds of buildings and boats and planes}, they’d know what a dork he is. The ONLY skill he has is grabbing attention — he started it with Daddy’s money, and he’s kept up the pretense ever since with OPM {Other People’s Money}… Now it’s Musk’s … Other than prancing around and mugging for cameras, he has no real skills. But he’s a great tool for Right Wing Oligarch’s, so they’ve created his phony public persona.
How to deal with that persona, and the people with super-wealth who popularize him — that’s our task now …
We can deport that poor woman who is married to a US citizen and mother to babies who are US citizens because she couldn't attend her hearing because of her medical emergency (and her husband communicated this). God help her and her family
But we tolerate this Mink/Musk who entered the country illegally AND continually pollutes Texas waters (and is a crap neighbor in Bastrop County), local communities, Native lands, and nature preserves.
He's not a Musk or a Musk Rat. He's a Menace. His wealth should not be a ticket to abuse anyone.
He kept Trump out of prison by getting him elected again. That's all Trump cares about. I wonder when Justices Alito and Thomas and possibly others will be gifted goodies by Musk. Will Trump's billionaire allies and proposed Cabinet members - and their sources of wealth - be taken over by Musk? Will federal employees automatically give Musk-owned companies every contract they apply for? The second Trump administration will make the first look like a kids lemonade stand.
Still and all, we MUST resist. We must support with time and money the organizations and individuals standing up for our democracy.
Yes we must resist. But there seems to be a vacuum of leadership. Shouldn’t Jan 20 be a day of nationwide protest? Would people who want to preserve democracy and the Constitution be willing to exercise our rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of speech before they are taken away from us? Would people in the countries Musk wants to befoul turn out too?
And if there were such protests would change what seems inevitable right now?
The arc of GOP history, from Ronnie to Donnie --- 1986: "The nine most terrifying words in the English Language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." 2024: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: Donald John Trump is controlled by Musk and MAGA."
Not for the first time I say: Buckley v. Valeo made this day inevitable.
Elizabeth Warren broached trying to contain it legislatively. Of course the response was tweeted Pocahontas insults. In the present circumstances the only hope I see is that they do what you'd expect of any nest of vipers.
This is something else I never anticipated. I'm worse than I thought. I could stay out of trouble in the Sixties after I saw a few police actions. This is different and far worse. Can Gavin help? Teri in Paradise, are you reading this?
I sense both Elon and Trump are headed toward trouble. And not the good kind of trouble. They will turn on each other.. don't know when. They both have huge egos.
it will require that Trump gets so furious that he will forget who is buttering his bread... but that could happen....if we all keep calling Elon: "President Musk" and refer to Trump as "Golfer-in-Chief"
Ok, I just read Timothy Snyder’s current Newsletter. My comment above is now seen in a new light. I recommend everyone read his newsletter. Among other important observations it gives us a new glossary of terms to help us communicate better with each other.
Isn't Elon selling his sperm too? Nothing says ego quite like that. Makes Donnie's gold painted sneaker deal seem a little weak in the knees, so to speak.
I may be alone, but I think Musk, for all his money, will come to grief, or at the very least wear out his welcome. He has no redeeming features that I can see, and is walking proof that money doesn't care who has it. I find him an unlovely and damaged personality, and am waiting for him to be invited back whence he came.
How does that neutralize the power of Muck's money? Now that he has tasted its effect I don't see him retreating voluntarily. He's too enmeshed in government biz for djt to turn on him fully.
It will not be voluntarily. Trump will dismiss him. It may be bloody, but as they say, "Let's you and him fight." Then, too, Trump is not above being bought.
The only thing djt likes more than money is staying out of jail. Unless Muck goes broke or turns off valve as well as spigot the big liar may snipe at him as he has already done once or twice, but I think locking him out would be psychologically impossible unless djt could first pry more $$$ from the Saudis than he expects from Muck.
He always needs money. He is nowhere as rich as people think. Why do you think he sells merch? He owes E Jean Carroll 86 million, I believe. And even lousy lawyers get paid. He has somehow peed away the fortune his father left him. And who, but him, please tell me, loses money on casinos?!
I think what we’ve learned is that there IS a price to “own” Trump. But, didn’t anybody, ever tell him that you never pay retail! His lovely wife, Elon, flashes the checkbook, and the country is sold.
Trump is a small time grifter compared to Elon, but Trump is somehow an idiot savant when it comes to political skills, in that respect at least they need each other. Now money can buy elections, political parties, and the S.Ct. thanks to the idiots on our Court. Our only hope lies with elected officials refusing to be bought or cowed, and standing up for out democracy. It's a faint hope, but may Congress rejecting the blackmail of Trump and Elon is a start, and once the curtain is pulled back people can see the Wizard is not so all-powerful after all. Maga will soon find, again, that it's far easier to oppose things than to try to govern. Having a concept of a plan won't work forever.
And how much of all that Musk is doing is influenced by Putin? I think I have a grasp on the extent of Musk's wealth, ownership, and influence around the globe. But Musk's got the stink of Putin all over him IMHO. My guess would be that "handling" Musk would be even more advantageous to Putin and more challenging than manipulating Trump. Does anyone else see it this way?
Dumb question, but why would someone with Muck's ego want to let Putin control him? Maybe he thinks *he's* playing Putin somehow. I just can't see him making himself someone else's tool.
You could be right. I don't think Muck knows much about anything. Putin understands how things work and he's strategic, although he really messed up with Ukraine.
Perhaps we won’t have to wait too long to find out what Musk will do with the Texas company he formed in October: United States of America Inc. Sole contractor for all remaining functions of government, to be privatized by decree?
Thank you LKTIV. This post makes too clear where the most vulnerable spot for democracy may be (out side of retribution trials) the opening of the money floodgates by no limits on campaign contributions/PACs. It is truly amazing (there has to be a better word :-) ) to think about the juggernaut Elon has put together----govt contracts, space hardware, cars, etc etc.
I have already said I do not want to live in a Tech Bro Kingdom. Musk has bought himself a presidency by proxy since he cannot run for President himself being born in South Africa. We Americans need to get at his money and claw back on campaign spending. We must get rid of this SCOTUS. Of course right now Trump gets to appoint the next people. If you listen to the Joe Rogan listeners on the Podcast in the Bulwark you get the sense that there are a lot of lost people out there, who don't believe the truth and do believe lies.
I think the US and other countries should ban X and the US government should take over Starlink and Space X.
Much of Musk's power comes from his control of Twitter that he uses for election disinfo and to threaten politicians with. Who’s funding Musk’s attack on American democracy? Follow the money with this interactive map!
I think Musk is an absolute danger to our country as a whole. He should be considered an enemy of the State. And he should be deported this very minute for breaking the law when he was not yet a citizen. The deportation should be done tomorrow.
People are calling him President Musk because he is essentially eclipsing Trump as even an elected official.
My G-d who is this man? He has not been elected to any office. He has not been vetted by ANY government agency. He isn’t even a naturalized citizen. How is he even let near any governmental business? And the Republicans were touting that Biden was weak. Trump doesn’t even have the strength, guts, or brains to tell Musk to take a hike. Frankly, I think Trump is AFRAID of Musk. He opened the bottle, and now can’t get the bugger back inside.
Jail for treason would better help the world. But we need to make big changes in the US to stop others of similar ilk. Thump is such a horrible person that the reasons for disliking him are front & center. Musk & his kind have now learnt how to takeover governments everywhere.
Yes, Elon Musk IS a naturalized citizen--although perhaps not entirely legally.
And this is based on what?
Was he born here?
No
So he is NOT a natural born citizen and cannot be President, although it appears he THINKS he can be as he dictates directly to Congress what his desires are because he THINKS he paid for the privilege.
Musk’s Wikipedia page contradicts the common belief that he’s not a US citizen. Wiki claims he became a naturalized American citizen in 2002. That said, I think his behavior and actions are clearly Un-American & agree that he is a danger to the republic, for which it stands….😏
But he was not born here and violated the rules on working here while not a citizen and therefore his citizenship is not legal and he should be deported. There is no statute of limitations on his illegal behavior.
The disastrously slow response to the 1/6 incident by the US DOJ identified a major problem for our current system of government. The “Lawless” are executing encrypted financial transactions. The DOJ is hand counting the penny jar. Not difficult to imagine how this turns out?!
Just look how long it took to put Al Capone behind bars. Our core creed is innocent until proven guilty. And in criminal cases it takes unanimity. It takes a lot of work, careful plotting *and time* to make sure your case is air tight. Every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted. Just look at Fani Willis. One error and a case which could have put Trump behind bars essentially got scuttled.
I like to think of the process like a viral infection. Viruses replicate in a host unimpeded and suddenly attack. The body then has to build defense and battle the virus down and then reinstate normality. That takes time.
But when it happens, it happens fast. 😀
I write President Musk alot, hope Trump's ego takes over ...wonderful what Bannon and Miller think about Musk.
He's a walking wallet to DJT!
I think Trump will do all he can to maintain a gpod working relationship with Elon! It is gong to be intersting to seee how the relationship plays out!
We all have citizens united to thank for this. Who could imagine that the Supreme Court could be so short sighted to open the floodgates to buying elections.
If the democrats had won, what Musk has done and how he has ignored security clearance reporting Musk would be considered a threat to national security and his companies involving space travel and starlink would be taken over by the government as a matter of national security.
Buckley v. Valeo. Look it up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckley_v._Valeo
One person = one vote, $350 billion = 350 billion votes
made Citizens United possible.
😢😭🤢
Interesting - 1976!
Getting rid of this pestilence of a person {and I do not use language like that lightly} requires FIRST ensuring that he cannot blithlely order the shutdown of his Starlink satellites to our Internet and strategic communications. He has contracts that cover incredibly strategic elements of our national security. With his mercurial tendencies — we are walking a knife’s edge with this man…. Stupid, stupid, stupid … That needs to be remedied, and remedied soon!
Well, Biden had 4 years to do just that. But he didn't.
Who’s talking about Biden? Musk has insinuated himself into the fabric of the WORLD’S security apparatus … Time for everyone to start thinking about how to undo that … Trump is not going to try, I’m ready to guess … Intelligent people the world over need to at least start to wake up …
Over the past few years, a number of commentators on this blog have speculated as to what might happen if Trump was both smart and not lazy. In the persona of Elon Musk I think we are seeing some of this. I find Musk a vile creature but he is smart and he’s not lazy. I think we’re seeing in real time what he intends to accomplish within the United States. And it’s not going to be pretty. But at this point I am even more troubled by his various shenanigans in the UK, in Germany and elsewhere and his seemingly constant interactions with Xi and Putin. I think what we’re watching is a guy who literally wants to control the world. He’s doing it differently from Hitler, but I think their goals are the same.
Muck may or may not be smart. What he is indisputably is ill-informed, ignorant of U.S. law and customs, and too arrogant to learn before acting. This man will be dangerous locally and globally only *if* he wises up. This past week's disruption was a test of concept that mostly just left egg on his face.
Musk still got what he wanted. He is cunning. The following is from "Letters from an American" by Heather Cox Richardson.
In the end, Congress passed a bill much like the one Musk scuttled, but one of the provisions that Congress stripped out of the old bill was extraordinarily important to Musk. As David Dayen explained in The Prospect, the original agreement had an “outbound investment” provision that restricted the ability of Americans to invest in technology factories in China. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bob Casey (D-PA) had collaborated on the measure, hoping to keep cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as the jobs they would create, in America rather than let companies move them to China.
As Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) explained, Musk is building big factories in China and wants to build an AI data center there, even though it could endanger U.S. security. McGovern charged that Musk’s complaints about the spending in the bill were cover for his determination to tank the provision that would limit his ability to move technology and business to China. And, he noted, it worked. The outbound investment provision was stripped out of the bill before it passed. (Heather Cox Richardson)
It’s important for us to keep track of things like THIS … gotta read the small print. Know the details. Thanks
{NOW, how do we make a loud enough noise among active US citizens to get action on this provision RENEWED? We already had restrictions against offshoring some technologies, but we were not careful enough to prevent someone from sending our battery technology to a plant in China {look it up}.
How do we do better at this, in this day and age?
I think we are so shocked that we are immobilized. I cannot understand why there are no protests (as I sit here reading about the horrifics in my quiet living room). Where is our collective outrage? What even is our collective?
the re-structuring of the mission of the Dem Party has to be re-calibrated....new coalitions formed...when bones are broken you can see how cells link together on an Xray arching over to reach each other's side to bridge the gap.... healing takes time and immobilization is actually necessary... meanwhile let those utter failures try to buy the world while they sink into the pit of their own demise and see that money can't buy love and adulation is hollow as the soulless monstrous ego that hides behind its pretenses.
exactly..
What's the point? The larger half won everything last month.
No, they are NOT the “larger half.” Just the bunch wh have been working on skewing the way our system works, AND miseducating so many of ur kids for too long, plus gerrymandering to maximize the “rural” advantage they have in Congress … Well, the Left has a job to do … But the left is fully half {I think a lot more than half} of the country … What is our next step?
But they dont know what we know.. YET. But they will soon enough.. Im done swimming up stream. The tide will change when Trumps policies go into effect.
Our collective outrage is here and there and everywhere.. I think we need to let them eat their own first.. Let Trumps policies take hold and his base will turn on him eventually. Im sitting back to enjoy the show.. theres nothing to be done until the mid terms anyway
Musk knows that the energy needed to supply AI data centers and technology is in China, not the US. The US is way WAY behind China supplying energy. It will be interesting to see how Musk manipulates things in his favour.. Daddy will get what Daddy wants because Daddy has all the money
Trump never learned anything...
People don't change, ergo he won't wise up.
There are too many variables to predict anything. Will Trump decide Musk is too popular and discard him? Is Trump an evil genius or is he marginally retarded? What does he really want? To run more grifts on the US government? Will the rest of the world see what a disaster getting into bed with Musk causes in the US and reject him? Or not?
I'd say he's a worn out decrepit old marginally retarded mean spirited buffoon.
I think the rest of the world, except maybe Putin, will not take kindly to a billionaire telling them what to do. My English husband assures me that the British people are going to be royally pissed off if Muck tries to meddle in their affairs. I suspect many Europeans agree, and I'm sure the Canadians do. People are proud of their countries and their cultures. They don't like interlopers. And many of them resent trying to be bought.
If Musk continues to "trump" Trump, Trump will not be happy. I can't imagine a friendship like that continuing for long, which is my hope. However, if Trump decides to just be president in name only, while he avoids all the court cases against him and the risk of going to jail, then we might see Musk as the one making all the decisions. Scary.
I don't think that's going to happen. There are too many other cooks in the broth who want their say.
I hope you're right. I tend to lean towards optimism, but Washington has surprised me before with their lack of morals. The rest of the world, yes they won't just let a Musk power-grab happen, but in the US, I've become doubtful. I'll be glad to be proven wrong!
Yes, wouldn't it be fantastic it if Biden arrested Musk for treason the moment he returns from his European vacation stirring up the sleeping dragons of yore. And nationalize his Starlink satellites. And space biz. We paid enough subsidies to him.
Ah, don’t we wish …
A normal person might see their way to do that, but Trump is a malignant narcissist, and the MOST IMPORTANT TASK IN THE WORLD for one of those is to protect their “image.’ At all costs, Trump will try to protect his image. If Musk upstages him too often, he will strike — or he’ll try to. Let’s see what matters most to Musk? Hmmmmmmm!!!!!
And when things go south, dump has someone to blame, which is his MO!
Oh, and as for Trump, he is no genius. I suspect he has a very low IQ. He will continue to grift because that's all he knows.
It’s actually no secret that Trump is a dork. If anyone paid attention to him over the many years he has forced his way into the public eye {starting out by putting his name is GIANT letters on all kimds of buildings and boats and planes}, they’d know what a dork he is. The ONLY skill he has is grabbing attention — he started it with Daddy’s money, and he’s kept up the pretense ever since with OPM {Other People’s Money}… Now it’s Musk’s … Other than prancing around and mugging for cameras, he has no real skills. But he’s a great tool for Right Wing Oligarch’s, so they’ve created his phony public persona.
How to deal with that persona, and the people with super-wealth who popularize him — that’s our task now …
William, let's not forget Icarus. I'm counting on mythology repeating itself here.
I like this!
Yes. I think you called it right … But I’m not sure his intelligence is broad-based. He seems to have huge areas of rational thought that are missing.
Now that's an interesting theory.
We can deport that poor woman who is married to a US citizen and mother to babies who are US citizens because she couldn't attend her hearing because of her medical emergency (and her husband communicated this). God help her and her family
But we tolerate this Mink/Musk who entered the country illegally AND continually pollutes Texas waters (and is a crap neighbor in Bastrop County), local communities, Native lands, and nature preserves.
He's not a Musk or a Musk Rat. He's a Menace. His wealth should not be a ticket to abuse anyone.
He kept Trump out of prison by getting him elected again. That's all Trump cares about. I wonder when Justices Alito and Thomas and possibly others will be gifted goodies by Musk. Will Trump's billionaire allies and proposed Cabinet members - and their sources of wealth - be taken over by Musk? Will federal employees automatically give Musk-owned companies every contract they apply for? The second Trump administration will make the first look like a kids lemonade stand.
Still and all, we MUST resist. We must support with time and money the organizations and individuals standing up for our democracy.
Yes we must resist. But there seems to be a vacuum of leadership. Shouldn’t Jan 20 be a day of nationwide protest? Would people who want to preserve democracy and the Constitution be willing to exercise our rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of speech before they are taken away from us? Would people in the countries Musk wants to befoul turn out too?
And if there were such protests would change what seems inevitable right now?
All the protesters should show up at the capitol steps wearing all black, and just quietly stand there with their backs turned to the entrance
If the 60s and 70s are any indication, there better be free beer, wine and music to draw the crowds. Those were the daze. :)
The arc of GOP history, from Ronnie to Donnie --- 1986: "The nine most terrifying words in the English Language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." 2024: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: Donald John Trump is controlled by Musk and MAGA."
Not for the first time I say: Buckley v. Valeo made this day inevitable.
Elizabeth Warren broached trying to contain it legislatively. Of course the response was tweeted Pocahontas insults. In the present circumstances the only hope I see is that they do what you'd expect of any nest of vipers.
Where I was trained there is only one thing you do when you come on a nest of vipers……..💥
One of my favorite substances, kerosene, comes to mind.
This is something else I never anticipated. I'm worse than I thought. I could stay out of trouble in the Sixties after I saw a few police actions. This is different and far worse. Can Gavin help? Teri in Paradise, are you reading this?
I sense both Elon and Trump are headed toward trouble. And not the good kind of trouble. They will turn on each other.. don't know when. They both have huge egos.
it will require that Trump gets so furious that he will forget who is buttering his bread... but that could happen....if we all keep calling Elon: "President Musk" and refer to Trump as "Golfer-in-Chief"
I post this this daily...President Musk over and over...Trump will have an ego rant before long!
Or gofer in chief.
Nah bro. It’s the owner and the owned now. Lonnie and Donnie both got exactly what they bargained for. This is the concept of the plan come true.
Ok, I just read Timothy Snyder’s current Newsletter. My comment above is now seen in a new light. I recommend everyone read his newsletter. Among other important observations it gives us a new glossary of terms to help us communicate better with each other.
Isn't Elon selling his sperm too? Nothing says ego quite like that. Makes Donnie's gold painted sneaker deal seem a little weak in the knees, so to speak.
I hope Elon will get bored or someone else will tell him to get lost! Polite way of saying what I really think! We will resist!
I'm not watching on January 20!
I may be alone, but I think Musk, for all his money, will come to grief, or at the very least wear out his welcome. He has no redeeming features that I can see, and is walking proof that money doesn't care who has it. I find him an unlovely and damaged personality, and am waiting for him to be invited back whence he came.
How does that neutralize the power of Muck's money? Now that he has tasted its effect I don't see him retreating voluntarily. He's too enmeshed in government biz for djt to turn on him fully.
It will not be voluntarily. Trump will dismiss him. It may be bloody, but as they say, "Let's you and him fight." Then, too, Trump is not above being bought.
The only thing djt likes more than money is staying out of jail. Unless Muck goes broke or turns off valve as well as spigot the big liar may snipe at him as he has already done once or twice, but I think locking him out would be psychologically impossible unless djt could first pry more $$$ from the Saudis than he expects from Muck.
Question: yes, Trump wants to stay out of jail, but he can't run for president again, so why does he need Muck's money?
The big liar hates spending his own money, wants more and more from other people to spend on things he can pretend are investments.
How pathetic.
He always needs money. He is nowhere as rich as people think. Why do you think he sells merch? He owes E Jean Carroll 86 million, I believe. And even lousy lawyers get paid. He has somehow peed away the fortune his father left him. And who, but him, please tell me, loses money on casinos?!
Trump's ego...
I think Rump will turn on him. He doesn't like being overshadowed.
I agree. This is probably our best hope at the moment.
I don't think djt is capable of turning away all that money.
Boy, that really makes him vulnerable. Also ripe for extortion and blackmail. What a guy.
Hey, that's what I just said!
Do you did! I need to stfu. Good nignt.
I don't think he is capable of it anymore.
Damaged is a perfect description of Elon, Margo.
He was actually an abused child.
And now he is abusing us. The cycle must end.
Marlene, what should California do? My mouth is just open.
So both were. They found each other.
I think what we’ve learned is that there IS a price to “own” Trump. But, didn’t anybody, ever tell him that you never pay retail! His lovely wife, Elon, flashes the checkbook, and the country is sold.
If there is a God....
Trump is a small time grifter compared to Elon, but Trump is somehow an idiot savant when it comes to political skills, in that respect at least they need each other. Now money can buy elections, political parties, and the S.Ct. thanks to the idiots on our Court. Our only hope lies with elected officials refusing to be bought or cowed, and standing up for out democracy. It's a faint hope, but may Congress rejecting the blackmail of Trump and Elon is a start, and once the curtain is pulled back people can see the Wizard is not so all-powerful after all. Maga will soon find, again, that it's far easier to oppose things than to try to govern. Having a concept of a plan won't work forever.
But asswipington always has his excuse ready!
And how much of all that Musk is doing is influenced by Putin? I think I have a grasp on the extent of Musk's wealth, ownership, and influence around the globe. But Musk's got the stink of Putin all over him IMHO. My guess would be that "handling" Musk would be even more advantageous to Putin and more challenging than manipulating Trump. Does anyone else see it this way?
I see Putin controlling trump via musk.
Dumb question, but why would someone with Muck's ego want to let Putin control him? Maybe he thinks *he's* playing Putin somehow. I just can't see him making himself someone else's tool.
I agree but I think Putin's lots smarter than Musk......KGB for decades.......so I think daien {was difny} has it right. just a thought.
You could be right. I don't think Muck knows much about anything. Putin understands how things work and he's strategic, although he really messed up with Ukraine.
Perhaps we won’t have to wait too long to find out what Musk will do with the Texas company he formed in October: United States of America Inc. Sole contractor for all remaining functions of government, to be privatized by decree?
He wants to create a municipality in the area he's busy polluting in order to attract hapless workers.
Over my dead body.
Thank you LKTIV. This post makes too clear where the most vulnerable spot for democracy may be (out side of retribution trials) the opening of the money floodgates by no limits on campaign contributions/PACs. It is truly amazing (there has to be a better word :-) ) to think about the juggernaut Elon has put together----govt contracts, space hardware, cars, etc etc.
I have already said I do not want to live in a Tech Bro Kingdom. Musk has bought himself a presidency by proxy since he cannot run for President himself being born in South Africa. We Americans need to get at his money and claw back on campaign spending. We must get rid of this SCOTUS. Of course right now Trump gets to appoint the next people. If you listen to the Joe Rogan listeners on the Podcast in the Bulwark you get the sense that there are a lot of lost people out there, who don't believe the truth and do believe lies.
I think the US and other countries should ban X and the US government should take over Starlink and Space X.
Much of Musk's power comes from his control of Twitter that he uses for election disinfo and to threaten politicians with. Who’s funding Musk’s attack on American democracy? Follow the money with this interactive map!
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/12/21/saudis-fund-muck-purchase-of-twitter-being-used-to-attack-democracy/
Thank you DemLabs!