Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

How are Republicans going to find someone with more charisma and personal charm than Jim Jordan?

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

A consequence of cucumbers

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Everybody saw this coming.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

House Speaker candidate unfamiliar with how to win non-gerrymandered election.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Muskba (Open Thread)

Muskba (Open Thread)

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I vaguely understood that Elon Musk was a giant douchebag from his forays into U.S. politics, but I don’t pay the wanker much mind, so I was kind of shocked by this:

Muskba (Open Thread)

“Khrushchev’s mistake”? The fucking fuck?? After getting brutally ratioed, he trotted out the following:

Muskba (Open Thread) 1

And after that shot, this chaser:

Muskba (Open Thread) 2

Poor Musk could achieve world peace by lunchtime if only you smooth-brains would listen. Jeebus, Mary and Joseph, what a walking argument for confiscatory tax rates.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    Dude from South Africa gazes fondly at 18th century for determining who owns a piece of land that has been occupied for millennia.

    Guess you otta know, you thick fuck.

  3. 3.

    Baud

     what a walking argument for confiscatory tax rates

    Whether to impose confiscatory tax rates on Musk should be decided by a Twitter poll.

  4. 4.

    trollhattan

    Half a degree removed, Peter Thiel does a thing.

    October 3, 2022 at 3:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    “Republican megadonor Peter Thiel is signaling to allies that he is largely done helping Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and wants his deep-pocketed political network to boost Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters as he trails Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in the polls,” CNBC reports.

    “Thiel told guests at a recent Masters fundraising event that he believes Vance is on track to win his Senate race against Rep. Tim Ryan.”

  5. 5.

    dlwchico

    So the annexed regions get to vote on joining Russia but the rest of Ukraine must remain neutral, which I assume means they aren’t allowed to vote to join NATO?

  6. 6.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    I was just about to post this in a comment on the previous thread, LOL. Fuck this fucking guy.

    Also, Zelenskyy has his own poll. When I first saw it, it was 93% to 7%, but I’m sure the Muskbots are starting to flood it:

    Which @elonmusk do you like more?
    — Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 3, 2022

  7. 7.

    Scott

    Yeah that all worked out in 1945-46 for Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, etc.

    Maybe have elections for all the other “Republics” that are part of the Russian Federation.

  9. 9.

    MomSense

    Shout out to NAFO for pushing back on Musk’s BS.

    They also helped me with the disinformation account that my friend had been posting.

  10. 10.

    StringOnAStick

    @trollhattan: My impression was that Ryan was beating Vance, and that Kelly was doing quite well against Masters.  My impression also is that Thiel is not nearly as smart or prescient as he thinks he is.

  11. 11.

    Roger Moore

    I think this poll shows what Musk is actually good at: garnering attention.  That can be an incredibly useful skill for the CEO of an industry-disrupting startup.  I honestly think it was a critical part of what made Tesla succeed when it was still trying to establish itself.  The attention helped to bring in capital, and it helped to get people to pay attention to what seemed like a wild idea at the time.  It’s mostly tiresome for a more established company, and it’s completely useless for foreign relations.

  12. 12.

    fancycwabs

    I refuse to take anything Elon Musk says about Ukraine seriously until he fulfills his promise to engage Vladimir Putin in some sort of single combat, be it MMA, boxing, or professional wrestling. Or maybe a sword fight.

    Point is,  his first proposed solution was the only good proposed solution and I will entertain no others until I see some action on it.

  14. 14.

    Ohio Mom

     

    @trollhattan:

    The last I looked, Vance and Ryan were essentially tied. One day one of them is ahead by two points, a week later it’s reversed — not quoting real numbers, that’s just my version, just my way of saying neither one of them has a clear trend line.

    So who knows what Theil is really thinking but it can’t possibly be My work here is done.

  16. 16.

    gratuitous

    Let’s try this, then: Participation trophy for Vlad, and cake decorated in Cyrillic with “At Least You Tried.” Russian forces head back to Mother Russia, tails between their legs, eastern provinces and Crimea go back to Ukraine, and a shit-ton of foreign aid pours into Ukraine to rebuild the country.

    After a suitable cooling off period (six months or so), the war crimes tribunal convenes.

  17. 17.

    C Stars

    @Roger Moore: Right. It’s the same puzzle presented by almost all GOP politicians these days: “Do they really believe this BS or are they just trying to get attention?”

  22. 22.

    MattF

    My first serious doubts about Musk came from watching a video a few years ago where an actual expert on automobile manufacturing took him and his various claims apart. Then came the ‘pedo guy’ business, and then came all the Twitter stuff. So, he’s full of shit and has been forever.

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    @Hoodie:

    Maybe this is why startup CEOs typically get replaced when a company gets serious financing.

    A lot of startup CEOs are the founders, who know a lot about the product they’re working on but are often less good at the business side of things.  When serious money gets involved, they want to bring in a CEO who will take care of the business side of things so the founders can get back to product development.

    My impression is that’s the role Musk was supposed to fulfill at Tesla.  He was brought in after the company was founded as part of the first big capital infusion.  And it’s hard to argue with his results at bringing the company from an interesting idea to a successful business.  But I really think it’s past time for him to turn the company over to a CEO who’s better suited for managing a mature business.

  25. 25.

    jonas

    @Ohio Mom:  These days I always assume unless the Dem is up by 5-10% points consistently, they’re either going to barely squeak by, or it will be an upset by the R-candidate.

  26. 26.

    StringOnAStick

    @MattF: I’ve read rumors of a payment being negotiated so he can walk away from his stupid attempt to buy Twitter; some value less than the major millions that were in the contract.  A bunch of the texts between Musk and the high level business guys who were all swarming around him about that (including Larry Ellison)  were released too, showing that Musk is your classic narcissist that has selected his inner circle to be the usual gang of yes men and suck ups.  Musk comes across looking less like a genius and more like a tRump.

  27. 27.

    Urza

    What is it with rich people thinking their so-called ‘talents’ are applicable to societal problems?  If only they could be properly cancelled and forced into poverty until they all learn to STFU about things they know very little about. Stick to satellites and batteries.

  29. 29.

    Hoodie

    @Roger Moore: Kind of strange that he’s stayed.  Most guys I know can’t wait to get out (e.g., take an advisory role) once they’ve had the big IPO or other payout. Running a mature company can be boring and stressful.  It lacks the excitement of the startup phase and you have to deal with boards and shareholders.

  30. 30.

    jonas

    @Jay: Why would they need to offer people cars? That seems a bit over the top. And expensive. An old-fashioned “check this box here and if you don’t, we go for a ride and they won’t find your body” seems a lot cheaper and more efficient. And was basically how most of the voting went down, from what I’ve been seeing.

  31. 31.

    StringOnAStick

    @Roger Moore: Tesla is going to have a hard time getting rid of Musk, he identifies with the company way too much so his ego and potential narcistic injury are on the line.  The best thing Tesla could do is get rid of him, but either way their vastly overvalued stock will meet with gravity at some point and if Musk has been forced out, his fanbois will blame the fall on lack of Musk.  If he’s still in charge when it happens, then it will get blamed on the evil shortsellers and their D friends and whatever other group the fanbois can rail against.  Musk is just as much a malignant narcissist as tRump is, but with a higher level of intellectual ability, same amount of moral deficiency.

  32. 32.

    Hoodie

    @Urza: Musk really is not an expert on satellites or batteries, there are other people at SpaceEx and Tesla that do that.   He’s probably doing politics because he’s bored.  Of course, his success in starting companies provides no basis for believing he has any acumen at foreign relations, but this isn’t an uncommon conceit.  Success can make people weird.   A seal who can balance a beach ball on his nose doesn’t think he’ll be good at particle physics.

  33. 33.

    Tony G

    @trollhattan: Elon lived the first 20 years of his life under apartheid in South Africa.  His father was a half-owner of an emerald mine under apartheid.  He grew up wealthy under a system of white supremacy.  Everything that Elon has been for the past 30 years makes perfect sense given his hiper-privileged upbringing.  He probably hasn’t had a thought in his life that wasn’t narcissistic.

  34. 34.

    InMyRoom

    Best reply ever.

    Andrik Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, summed up much of the collective online sentiment in a nine-word reply to Musk. “Fuck off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” he wrote.

  38. 38.

    middlelee

    Why does the CEO of a car company have any say in what happens in Ukraine?  Why does he think he would have any say?  I felt the same way about Noam Chomsky weighing in a few months ago. Let Ukraine decide what Ukraine is gonna do.  The world seems to be full of people who think they are authorities on everything who are just plain full of shit.

    That is not the same as front pagers and commenters having discussions about everything.  We aren’t going on NYT opinion page, Twitter, wherever and telling sovereign countries what they should be doing.

    Thanks for reading.  I needed to rant.  I’ve been pissed off about this for several hours.

  43. 43.

    JustRuss

    As I recall Ukraine already negotiated a deal where they agreed to remain neutral and in return Russia would respect their border.  Hasn’t worked out real well.

  44. 44.

    The Moar You Know

    My impression also is that Thiel is not nearly as smart or prescient as he thinks he is.

    @StringOnAStick: the herpes he got from his endless parade of rentboys is residing in his frontal lobe, having a grand old time snacking on his rapidly-dwindling supply of neurons.

  45. 45.

    opiejeanne

    @Omnes Omnibus: Same in WA, I’m seeing Suzan del Bene and Patty Murray ads outnumber the R candidates’ ads about 3-1.

    Kim Schrier is being hit by Republicans who think they smell a chance, but I’m seeing more ads for her than for Larkin, and more anti-Larkin than Anti-Schrier, but not such a dramatic difference.

  46. 46.

    Steeplejack

    I heard from my elderly friend in Naples, FL, that her power came back on just before midnight last night. Yay!

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    @Hoodie:

    My gut feeling is Musk stays at Tesla because he’s a narcissist, and being CEO of a big company gets him lots and lots of attention.  I also think he must not be really doing the full job of CEO.  He’s simultaneously CEO of SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.  There might be another company or two in there that have slipped my mind.  Given that being a real CEO of just one company is at least a full-time job, I can’t believe he’s really doing all the work for that many companies at once.  My gut feeling is he’s play acting the CEO role while his subordinates are doing the real work.

  49. 49.

    germy shoemangler

    Happy anniversary to the man I love! These last 30 years have been an adventure, and I’m grateful to have you by my side. Here’s to a lifetime together. I love you, @BarackObama! ❤️😘 pic.twitter.com/HcDjbLl2x6

    — Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 3, 2022

     
    Meanwhile…

    CryptoWatch: China is World's Blockchain Leader and NFTs on the Rise with Apple, Melania Trump https://t.co/dNr2YxafUI

    — MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) September 28, 2022

  50. 50.

    dmsilev

    @Roger Moore: This is, of course, the same Elon Musk who claimed that employees need to be in the office doing the job at least 40 hours every week if they were to be productive. Guess he fails his own metric.

    Oh, wait, I’m sorry, he’s _special_.

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    Where you stand depends on where you sit.

    James Murdoch is on Tesla’s board.

    Why would anyone think that Musk wouldn’t favor VVP’s desired outcome?

    Musk is a troll who craves free publicity.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    dmsilev

    @germy shoemangler: NFTs are so “on the rise” that they’ve lost I think it was 97% of their aggregate value over the last several months.

    Now you can buy your ape images at a steep discount!

  54. 54.

    MisterDancer

    @middlelee: Why does the CEO of a car company have any say in what happens in Ukraine?

    He’s been told for decades now how smart and [EDIT: prescient] he is (just like Thiel). And that vision of him flowed right into the mass media, and esp. entertainment (see the comparisons in the first IRON MAN movie between Tony Stark and Musk, if I recall correctly).

    And much like Stark (who, is it fair to say, is far smarter, if fictional) in CIVIL WAR, Musk thinks he’s ready to play on a bigger stage, and isn’t. He thinks his ability (however questionable at scale) to run a company means he can run damn near anything, including peace between Russia and Ukraine. He thinks his talents lie everywhere, because Intellect is Intellect, and “smarts” is a Universal Lubricant for all problems, foreign and domestic.

    It’s a bad problem in, really, Western media at least, and Musk just is taking advantage of that pseudo-technocratic bias, to all of our loss.

    (And this doesn’t even get into the rampant bias he allows at, at least, Telsa.)

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    Thing is, Musk gained a *great* deal of goodwill in Ukraine by means of Starlink, which is really invaluable to the armed forces and people working with them. If you like looking at car wrecks, you could watch all that go up in flames in real time this afternoon. Dude shot himself in the dick, with both barrels.

  64. 64.

    Dan B

    @StringOnAStick: Wait until the right wing Supreme six rule that people can refuse to do business with Thiel for “religious reasons”.  Followed by overturning marriage equality and adoption.  Thiel, his husband, and their two kids will be spending more time in New Zealand, perhaps.

  66. 66.

    Jeffro

    +1 vote here for the confiscatory tax rates.  I’m tired of really rich folks having more than their 1 vote per person.

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    @JustRuss: What are you insinuating??!

    Raymond Shaw VVP is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.

    Despite the Russian military build-ups, Russian officials from November 2021 to 20 February 2022 repeatedly denied that Russia had plans to invade Ukraine.

    What’s the problem?? People are acting like VVP’s russia broke its word! Like that would ever happen!!

    Russia has a veto at the UN and takes the responsibility seriously! Of course they respect free and fair elections where the will of the people is transparently expressed!! Just like they respected VZ’s election!!

    (sigh)

    [ mumble, grumble ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    John S.

    @opiejeanne:

    I don’t see how Larkin wins here. He had to run so far to the right in order to appease the right flank that I don’t see how he wins in a general election. Same with Tiffany Smiley.

  70. 70.

    Tony G

    @Tony G: The fact that a privileged, arrogant jackass like Musk has an army of fan-boys is a real indictment of our “culture”.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    I tried to follow the Oath Keepers trial a little bit today (haven’t looked at anything in the last few hours), and I have a question. If the Oath Keepers’ defense is going to be (in part) that they were standing by for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, why did they think that they would be the go-to guys, rather than, oh, I dunno, the Army or the National Guard?

    Plus, when I looked up the Insurrection Act, I saw this:

    Before invoking the powers under the Act, 10 U.S.C. § 254 requires the President to first publish a proclamation ordering the insurgents to disperse. As part of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, these provisions are now codified as amended.

    There are Constitutional exceptions to Posse Comitatus restrictions rooted in the President’s own constitutional authority. Defense Department guidelines describe “homeland defense” as a “constitutional exception” to Posse Comitatus restriction, meaning that measures necessary to guarantee National Security from external threats are not subject to the same limitations.

    So Trump would have had to issue a proclamation ordering his own mob to disperse? And, if not them, then who? The whole thing is a farcical mess.

  72. 72.

    Villiageidiocy

    @MisterDancer: he seems to suffer from what is known as the “engineer’s disease”, common among libertarians as well. “I can do this one thing we’ll so I am smarter than you and can do everything well.”

  73. 73.

    dmsilev

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Dude shot himself in the dick, with both barrels.

    Never mind trying to buy Twitter and then backing out, just posting on Twitter is a bad idea for him.

    His response after half the world called him an idiot was to…
    …complain about all the Twitter bots that suddenly showed up in his feed. No dude, they’re real people. All of whom you pissed off.

  74. 74.

    Roger Moore

    @dmsilev:

    This is, of course, the same Elon Musk who claimed that employees need to be in the office doing the job at least 40 hours every week if they were to be productive.

    The really ridiculous part is that when they actually reported to the office as commanded, it turned out there wasn’t enough space, the WiFi couldn’t deal with the load, etc. It’s bad CEO think in a nutshell.

  75. 75.

    C Stars

    @Steeplejack: Oh good! Is this the friend you were a bit worried about the other day? If so, I’m glad to hear you know more and she’s getting power back.

  77. 77.

    patrick II

    Elon has a fanboy Youtube channel named “Tech Zone”.  Among the titles:

     

    NASA & Elon Musk SHOWED Spacex’s Nuclear Rocket to Stop Russia

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX & Tesla DESTROYED Russian And Chinese Economy

    Elon Musk JUST SHOWED New INSANE Way to Breathe On Mars

    Elon Musk JUST BLEW UP Russian Nuclear Rocket and SHOCKED Putin

    “I DESTROYED All Russian & Chinese Spy Satellites” -Elon Musk HUMILIATED Presidents.

    Elon Musk JUST SANK Russian Aircraft Carrier And SHOCKED Putin.

    I don’t know if Elon has much to do with it  — but it seems to have access to a lot of Elon Musk video.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Beyond the usual concerns for her safety, I was also worried because since she moved to Naples in April she has seemed a little mentally erratic. I hope it’s just the stress of the move and subsequent events and not something age-related. I still am a little worried about that. I hope she gets better as her situation settles down.

  79. 79.

    cain

    @The Moar You Know:

    @StringOnAStick: the herpes he got from his endless parade of rentboys is residing in his frontal lobe, having a grand old time snacking on his rapidly-dwindling supply of neurons.

    Not gonna lie, if I was drinking my usual tea, I would have sprayed it out of my mouth after reading this.

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    Yet another reminder that every election is important.

    BoltsMag.org:

    Max Baer, Pennsylvania’s chief justice, passed away on Friday night after nearly two decades on a state supreme court that has been critical for voting rights and redistricting.

    He was a Democrat, part of the court’s 5-2 Democratic majority that in 2018 struck down the GOP’s congressional gerrymander and has repeatedly ruled against efforts to erode voting rights. In 2020, the court sank Donald Trump’s bid to overturn Pennsylvania’s presidential results. In August, it voted on party lines to salvage Act 77, which authorizes all Pennsylvanians to vote by mail, after a lower court ruled that measure to be unconstitutional. Baer was in the majority for all those decisions.

    Baer was set to quit the court at the end of 2022 as he hit the mandatory retirement age of 75, which would have left a vacancy on the court. His death raised new uncertainty as to the timing of his replacement, and brought a sudden reminder that the fate of the judiciary is also tied into a high-stakes governor’s race.

    Judicial vacancies in Pennsylvania are filled by the governor, and that is retiring Democrat Tom Wolf until mid-January; but they are also subject to confirmation in the state Senate, which is currently in Republican hands. If Wolf nominates a replacement for Baer, Senate Republicans could either confirm his pick or stall and throw the choice to the winner of the race between Republican Doug Mastriano and Democrat Josh Shapiro.

    […]

    PA Democrats and sensible independents need to be fired up and turn out to vote.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    Falling Diphthong

    @trollhattan: Vance is not up by a consistent 20-30 points in the polls, so I would take Thiel’s claims of withdrawing funding from him because things are going so well with a grain of salt.

  85. 85.

    Roger Moore

    @Steeplejack:

    So Trump would have had to issue a proclamation ordering his own mob to disperse? And, if not them, then who?

    Realistically, the whole thing with the insurrection act was intended as a cover for a violent coup.  The attack would serve as justification for suspending the electoral count and for declaring martial law.  All Trump’s brown polo shirts would be deputized to keep order.

  89. 89.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy shoemangler: Melanie might want to pay attention to this story:

    Bloomberg Crypto @crypto 10h

    BREAKING: Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million over SEC allegations that she broke US rules by touting a crypto token without disclosing she was paid for the promotion

  90. 90.

    trollhattan

    @Jay: Damn well played, Fetterman.

    Better still, Simpsons folks will have signed on for allowing the use.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    @C Stars:

    Yes. She just turned 85 and doesn’t currently have a car, and she just moved into her current place five or six weeks ago.

  92. 92.

    azlib

    Kruschev did actually give the Crimea to Ukraine. Of course, Ukraine was just another part of the Soviet Union at that time and before that it was part of the Russian Empire. I am not sure that fact is really relevant at this time since Russia started this war and is losing it badly.

    Also, does Musk really believe a self selecting online poll really means anything?

  93. 93.

    Jay

    @Steeplejack:

    a critical requirement for the Stupid Coup’s “success”, was to have violent street battles between the Insurrectionists and Antifa.

    That was when the Act was to be trotted out, against Antifa.

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @Steeplejack: Maybe they anticipated a large turnout from antifa forces. There were some skirmishes in DC a couple of Saturday nights before, between antifa people and Proud Boys etc. That might have raised the expectations of the militia people. Plus, they had built antifa into larger than life danger, and might have believed their own bullshit.

    On January 6 a few score antifa people did show up but they remained several blocks west and north of the Capitol, near Lafayette Park. The cops kept them separated from the right wingers at the scene. But I think the Insurrection planners just assumed that if they staged a high profile event the antifa crowd would turn out in numbers too.

    There was a debate among antifa sympathizers in the the week before January 6, and I followed it some through the Twitter account of Molly Conger, @SocialistDogMom. Some people argued that they had a duty to confront fascists whenever they showed up on the street. Others said not this time, they want to use us as a provocation. The latter group seems to have carried the argument. Also, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser discouraged counter demonstrators very emphatically.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    Is getting smaller and smaller, newest Russia. Posted ten minutes ago on BBC.

    Ukrainian troops have broken through Russian positions on the Dnieper river north-east of Kherson, a strategic Russian-held city in southern Ukraine.

    The advance was reported by the Russian military and Russian-installed officials in the region. There is heavy Russian defensive fire, they say.

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said “there are new liberated settlements in several regions”. In the east, Ukrainian forces pushed into Russian-held Luhansk region.

    President Zelensky said “fierce fighting continues in many areas”, in his evening address to the nation, but he did not give details.

    On Saturday his forces recaptured the important hub town of Lyman in the east, lying near the Luhansk regional border. Russia’s military had turned Lyman into a logistical base.

    In the south, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in Kherson, said Ukrainian forces had broken through near Dudchany, a town on the Dnieper about 30km (20 miles) south of the previous front line. The river is called Dnipro by Ukrainians.

    “There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces,” Mr Saldo said. Some Russian reports say the Ukrainians have now taken Dudchany.

    A Russian defence ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said “numerically superior” Ukrainian tanks had “driven a deep wedge” south of Zolotaya Balka, a village that marked the previous front line on the Dnieper. He claimed the Russians had killed about 130 Ukrainian troops in that fighting.

    According to Mr Saldo, two Ukrainian battalions tried to reach the hydroelectric power station at Kakhovka, about 70km (44 miles) east of Kherson.

  97. 97.

    Matt McIrvin

    @MisterDancer: Musk’s big technological ideas are, almost without exception, recapitulating the stuff I thought was cool when I was reading futurist articles at the age of 13 in 1981. It’s just all that OMNI Magazine stuff, only he’s a grown man with an immense fortune who can get people to listen to him.

    The companies he bought into actually managed to produce successful products a few times, which is more than most ever do and is to their credit. But this guy’s thoughts are basically immature and nobody he listens to is going to tell him that.

  98. 98.

    Another Scott

    Elon Musk weighing in on Russia/Ukraine since he is an expert in failed takeover attempts

    — John W. Rich (Fake Tech Exec) (@Cokedupoptions) October 3, 2022

    (via Oryx)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  99. 99.

    cptlhill

    I’d like to gently weigh in regarding how we choose to demonize awful people. Thiel is undoubtedly awful––monumentally so–– but jokingly referring to his catching herpes from “rent boys” plays into ubiquitous stereotypes of gay men as promiscuous and sexually irresponsible. Unexamined, damaging  tropes always offer themselves up as the quickest types of insults; that is how they are promulgated….

    Going back to Gay lurking now….

  101. 101.

    karen marie

    @trollhattan:   I looked at my phone this morning and discovered a dozen texts from the Masters camp.  Fear-mongering about “illegals” was their argument in favor of Masters.  I texted back each one to “fuck off, you anti American wanker,” then reported each number as spam and blocked them.

    Is that what Thiel is spending his money on for Masters?

    As long as he’s throwing his money at that lost cause, he can’t throw it elsewhere, so I suppose it’s a win?

  102. 102.

    Roger Moore

    @azlib:

    Also, does Musk really believe a self selecting online poll really means anything?

    Of course they do.  If the poll agrees with him, it’s proof he was right.  If it disagrees, it’s proof the poll has been taken over by bots.  That’s especially true of Twitter polls, where the existence of bots is more evidence he should be allowed to give up his attempted takeover.

  103. 103.

    C Stars

    @Steeplejack: Whew, she got Ian as a welcoming committee!! I hope her mental state–and general life circumstances–have a chance to settle down now.

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’m still partial to Mr Haney references, but Pierce comes up with a good nickname for maybe the biggest fraud in the Senate (thinks about Susan Collins… Kennedy is worse)

    Charles P. Pierce. @CharlesPPierce
    Jubilation T. Oxford putting his intellect to work.

    you can watch the obnoxious Kennedy video he’s referencing, if you so choose

  108. 108.

    Another Scott

    @Dan B: Dunno.

    Wikipedia:

    In April 2012, he was forced to resign as chairman of BSkyB in the wake of the ongoing phone hacking scandal, in which he was implicated.[8] He was reappointed chairman of the company following its merger with its Italian and German sister companies to form Sky plc.

    He was formerly an executive vice-president of News Corporation (the controlling shareholder of BSkyB) and served on the board of directors of News Datacom and of News Corporation.[9]

    In May 2012, a highly critical UK Parliamentary report said that Murdoch “showed wilful ignorance of the extent of phone-hacking” and found him “guilty of an astonishing lack of curiosity” over the issue.[10] It went on to say that both Murdoch and his father, Rupert, “should ultimately be prepared to take responsibility” for wrongdoing at the News of the World and News International.[11]

    News Corp is a cancer on the world.

    The phone hacking scandal link says in part:

    … in July 2011 it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings had also been hacked. The resulting public outcry against News Corporation and its owner Rupert Murdoch led to several high-profile resignations, including that of Murdoch as News Corporation director, Murdoch’s son James as executive chairman, Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton, News International legal manager Tom Crone, and chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), Sir Paul Stephenson, also resigned. Advertiser boycotts led to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July 2011, after 168 years of publication.[1] Public pressure forced News Corporation to cancel its proposed takeover of the British satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

    I don’t think a good person would be involved in stuff like that.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jackie:  one of the nugget’s in Maggie H’s new book was trump thought he could block the first impeachment by suing Congress

    When the House introduced articles of impeachment against Trump for the first time in 2019, Trump reacted with a familiar refrain, according to the book: “I’ll just sue Congress. They can’t do this to me.”

  112. 112.

    Ruckus

    @StringOnAStick:

    “My impression also is that Thiel is not nearly as smart or prescient as he thinks he is.”

    How many insanely rich assholes are actually as smart as they think they are? They think having money makes you smart, while all it actually does is make you wealthy, most often by being in the right place at the right time, ie being born into it usually.

  114. 114.

    trollhattan

    @Matt McIrvin: ​I can name two or three car and airplane designs clearly lifted from my gradeschool notebook margins. Still looking for those royalties.

  116. 116.

    Bill Arnold

    @Steeplejack:

    Yeah, I have wondered if Antifa not showing up threw a monkey wrench in the works.

    It did. Those who organized and pushed the “stay away from DC” messaging did good work, that did good.

  117. 117.

    Dan B

    @Another Scott: It may be Lachlan who’s decent.  That may be by comparison.  One of the sons wanted Fox to be solid journalism and less sensationalist propaganda.

  120. 120.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, TheOnion files an amicus brief with the SCOTUS.

    Seriously.

    Novak-Parma Onion Amicus Brief (23 page .pdf)

    On top of its journalistic pursuits, The Onion also owns and operates the majority of the world’s transoceanic shipping lanes, stands on the nation’s leading edge on matters of deforestation and strip mining, and proudly conducts tests on millions of animals daily.

    (via Angry_Staffer)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  121. 121.

    Baud

    @Jackie:

    Trump v. Cable News Network Inc., 0:22-cv-61842, US District Court, Southern District of Florida (Fort Lauderdale).

     
    Judge Canon!

  123. 123.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    BREAKING: Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million over SEC allegations that she broke US rules by touting a crypto token without disclosing she was paid for the promotion 

    Make that $1.26 billion.  And the SEC board can tell her to go fuck herself.

  124. 124.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Dan B: my recollection is Lachlan is more racist and rightwing than Rupert, and James has been moved left (all things being relative) by his wife.

    speaking of the various Murdochs, here’s an amusing anecdote from Bryan Cox of Succession:

    “We’re loving your show…My wife finds it a little difficult at times but on the whole, she’s really enjoying it’” Cox regaled the man saying. Cox asked why the man’s wife was having a hard time with the show.

    “He said, ‘my wife is Elisabeth Murdoch’” Cox revealed, “I said, ‘Oh!’”

    Cox continued, “He said ‘No it’s fine but can you go easier on her next season?’”

    I’m assuming she sees herself as Siobhan, but maybe she’s Connor?

  126. 126.

    CaseyL

    @Dan B: ISTR that James was tossed out of Fox News Corp by his family because he was not sufficiently fascist  critical of the Corps support for the insurrection and insurrectionist GOPers.  Doesn’t make him a good person, just makes him a slightly less awful one.

  131. 131.

    artem1s

    @Ohio Mom:

    So who knows what Theil is really thinking but it can’t possibly be My work here is done.

    probably more along the lines of “my grifting work is done here”. the ranks of MAGAts that were willing to keep dumping dollars at their great orange leader has been shrinking. And they all know Vance is getting backed by big money from outside the state. So why send any dollars his way?

  133. 133.

    Gin & Tonic

    @trollhattan: Shit, if the Beeb can be bothered to write “the river is called Dnipro by Ukrainians” the they could easily call it that themselves.

  137. 137.

    RaflW

    Jeebus, Mary and Joseph, what a walking argument for confiscatory ordinary, Dwight Eisenhower-era tax rates.

  139. 139.

    kalakal

    Well saying all international boundaries should be set back to where they were is certainly a bold idea. I guess it’s one way of moving his car factories to Spain. Not sure he’ll like all those EU Labour laws though

  140. 140.

    sab

    If we want to use black women as our weathervane,I am concerned about Tim Ryan.

    My city is divided. I have been in his district for 20 years. The west side of town was Marcia Fudge and before that Stephanis Tubbs Jones.

    Ryan tacked way right after the primary. Now he is going after white male factory workers or former workers who hate China. That’s it. My husband throws his shoes at the tv every time a Ryan add comes on. “What makes me as a Democrat want to vote for this man? ”

    I went to my dad’s nursing home, and the black nurses aides didn’t like Ryan. They think he might be really a Republican. They live on the other side of town and don’t know him because someone else was their Congressperson.

    If this is how badly his shift to the right has gone on the fringe of his own district, I dread to think about how he is perceived in the rest of the state. Republican light and/or dishonest with voters. What is his campaign thinking? Liberal Democrat losing black middle-aged women voters

    ETA Of course they won’t vote for Vance, but they might leave the Senate box blank. Republican light really doesn’t work.

  142. 142.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    @Roger Moore:

    He was brought in after the company was founded as part of the first big capital infusion. And it’s hard to argue with his results at bringing the company from an interesting idea to a successful business. But I really think it’s past time for him to turn the company over to a CEO who’s better suited for managing a mature business.

    IIRC, that’s exactly why SpaceX brought in Gwynne Shotwell to actually run the company so they don’t have to worry about Elon doing something stupid with the company.

  143. 143.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Roger Moore: When serious money gets involved, they want to bring in a CEO who will take care of the business side of things so the founders can get back to product development.

     

    Except Musk is a moron who never invented a sandwich and just bought/forced other people out with his apartheid mines inheritance.

  144. 144.

    artem1s

    @sab:

    If we want to use black women as our weathervane,I am concerned about Tim Ryan.

    yea, he’s running a state wide campaign like the only voters he has to worry about are the ones from his old House district. Too many people encouraging him to run his campaign like Fetterman. Vance is going to have trouble getting out the MAGAt voter even with TFG (lukewarm, purchased) endorsement. But Ryan doesn’t stand a chance if Black women voters don’t believe he’s any different than the union bosses from Youngstown. Believe me white liberal voters remember how he tried to kneecap Nancy Smash in 2018. I still have my doubts about how he’s going to vote if he manages to win. There is a lot of potential there for another Manchin. If the base doesn’t turn out in Akron and Cleveland, he doesn’t stand a chance.

  145. 145.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Roger Moore:

     My gut feeling is he’s play acting the CEO role while his subordinates are doing the real work.

    Let me let you in on a not very well kept secret.  That describes the majority of people in the CEO position.  Glorified carnival barkers.

  146. 146.

    Starfish

    @dlwchico: How has “voting” been working out so far, you might ask. Soldiers have been in people’s houses, pointing guns at them and telling them to “vote” to become part of Russia. These are not ideal voting circumstances.

  149. 149.

    Sebastian

    Musk had to distract from disastrous Q3 delivery numbers released over the weekend and the terrible Bot presentation Friday evening, which sent the stock tanking 8% today.

    He must keep the stock up until the quarterly filing mid-October because he can only sell after that date.

    He needs to sell a lot of his stock and he could even end up underwater if it falls too much.

  155. 155.

    The Lodger

    @Gin & Tonic: Inconceivable! Nest thing you know, the Beeb will learn how to pronounce Nicaragua (which, to natives of Earth, is not “ni-car-AG-yew-uh”.)

  156. 156.

    Tehanu

    @middlelee:

    Why does the CEO of a car company have any say in what happens in Ukraine? Why does he think he would have any say?

    Uh … because he has lots and lots and lots and lots of money? I’ve begun to think that greed is really the deadliest of all sins.
    also @Ruckus:​m

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