Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Bark louder, little dog.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Everybody saw this coming.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Accountability, motherfuckers.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Musk Digging Himself Into Trumpworld, Like An Infectious Tick

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Musk Digging Himself Into Trumpworld, Like An Infectious Tick

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You getting a security clearance: Doctorate in computer science, five tours of duty in Afghanistan, Medal of Honor winner. But you smoked a joint in high school, so…
Them getting a security clearance: We can overlook doing heroin with Epstein visiting Clone Hitler’s secret Nazi moon base.

[image or embed]

— Starfish Who Can’t Think Something Witty (@irhottakes.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 8:43 AM

The NYTimes cheerleading section (Haberman, Swan, & some coat-holder) — “How Elon Musk Has Planted Himself Almost Literally at Trump’s Doorstep”:

Elon Musk plays many roles with President-elect Donald J. Trump. He is Mr. Trump’s most important donor, most influential social media promoter and a key adviser on policy and personnel.

For most of the time since Election Day, he has also been Mr. Trump’s tenant.

Mr. Musk has been using one of the cottages available for rent on Mr. Trump’s property at Mar-a-Lago, the former Marjorie Merriweather Post home in Florida that Mr. Trump converted into a members-only club and hotel in the 1990s, according to two people with knowledge of the arrangement. The cottage where he has been staying, named Banyan, is several hundred feet away from the main house, according to a person who knows the property…

Mr. Musk, who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars in the final months of this year’s election cycle to help elect Mr. Trump, has attended personnel meetings in the Mar-a-Lago Teahouse, sat in on phone calls with foreign leaders and spent hours with Mr. Trump in his office. Mr. Musk’s employees from his various businesses have also been integrally involved in the transition, vetting prospective candidates for senior administration jobs, in interviews at the Trump transition headquarters in West Palm Beach…

Mr. Trump has bragged to people that Mr. Musk — the world’s richest man — is “renting” one of the residential spaces at Mar-a-Lago. It is unclear how much Mr. Musk will ultimately end up paying for the cottage, which historically has rented for at least $2,000 a night, according to a person with knowledge of the fees.

Officials at the club do not typically bill guests until the end of their stay, leaving open the possibility that Mr. Trump will choose not to charge Mr. Musk, or to reduce the size of his bill. But Mr. Trump is not known to shy away from income opportunities…

Mr. Musk is unlikely to have such unfettered physical access to Mr. Trump after the president-elect is sworn in on Jan. 20 in Washington. Coming and going in the West Wing is more onerous than at Mr. Trump’s private clubs, as is access to the White House residence.

Still, Mr. Trump has often liked to collect people, and has enjoyed knowing that many of them pay for access to him. Since he first took office, people seeking to curry favor with him — or to get face time with him — have joined his clubs, rented ballrooms at his properties or stayed in his hotels.

Mr. Trump is said to have increased the initial membership fee at Mar-a-Lago to $1 million.

And since the two have so much in common, they are of course growing closer… oh, who are we kidding? CNN: “Trump bristles at Musk’s rocketing profile as Democrats play on the president-elect’s vanity”:

… “No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump told conservative activists at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. The president-elect insisted he liked having smart people around and accused his opponents of launching “a new kick” after he suggested they tried to delegitimize his first term over “Russia, Russia, Russia.” Trump added: “No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you. And I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be — he wasn’t born in this country.”

Trump’s comments suggested at the very least that the constant coverage of Musk’s role has caught his eye and that he resents the idea that his new best friend is the power behind the throne. They will also stoke fresh speculation over how long the president-elect, who doesn’t normally like to share any spotlight, will tolerate Musk’s soaring profile — even if both men have huge incentives to continue a friendship that has seen the tech pioneer almost constantly at Trump’s side at Mar-a-Lago since the election…

Musk’s growing prominence is fueling debate over how long Trump will tolerate what often seems to be the brightest star in his orbit. Any schism between the pair could be painful for both since the spaceflight visionary has substantial interest in prolonging his US government contracts. And Trump might worry about fueling a backlash from a friend-turned-foe who controls X.

But former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who was once friendly with Trump before being elbowed out of his inner circle — predicted that Musk’s status as the president-elect’s right-hand man won’t last.

“When you initially begin in that role, you have enormous influence,” Christie said on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “And he loves having you around and he loves listening to you, and you’re the best thing in the world. It will always decline. And that’s what happens. And you’ll see it. It will happen with Elon Musk too.”

Last night’s Marred-A-Lago blowout, where somebody stole the Big Guy’s signature dance move…

… and brought the fam along, not waiting for a formal invitation:

The scent of money in bulk has always intoxicated The Incoming Felon, but if Musk gets too hands-on, the WH gang of nativist henchmen have a literal world of opportunities to yank his chain…

NYT reports:
1. Confirms Musk has a Top Secret. Recently *denied* SAP
2. Musk doesnt report all foreign travel or meetings with foreign leaders, nor mental health prescrip drugs
3. Overall fast-loose culture on security regs at SpaceX
4. Employees who have complained about #3 have been fired

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— David Burbach (@dburbach.bsky.social) December 17, 2024 at 3:00 PM

We’re in for a circus, might as well make the popcorn.
STOCKPILE - Musk Digging Himself In

(John Deering via GoComics.com)

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    How Elon Musk Has Planted Himself Almost Literally at Trump’s Doorstep”:

    Hopefully not in a cyber truck.

  2. 2.

    Nukular Biskits

    This is indeed one of the things that royally pisses me off.

    Me, having a clearance, couldn’t use breath mints with miniscule amounts of  THC because I’d risk losing my clearance, and thus, job.

    These assholes aren’t held to the same standards as am I.

  3. 3.

    MagdaInBlack

    I find myself particularly disgusted with Musk dragging his little human shields around with him. Those poor kids.

  4. 4.

    Suzanne

    The New Republic has been doing some solid reporting in recent months. I remember reading it when I was in high school, so like 10,000 years ago. Then I kind of drifted away from it and it wasn’t good for a while. Glad to see a turnaround.

    On the topic raised yesterday of Trump being good at imagecraft….. he’s appointing his producer/events/PR guy to a White House role.

    He is currently working on Trump’s inauguration appearances.
    The appointment rewards Caporale, a former aide to Trump’s wife, Melania, for his work in devising some of the incoming president’s most successful – and controversial – appearances on the campaign trail.
    “Justin Caporale has been with me right from the beginning of a very incredible journey, helping to produce our Historic Rallies and Events, including the Republican National Convention, Madison Square Garden, McDonalds commercial, and even my seriously viral ‘Garbage Truck ride’,” Trump wrote.
    “Once he finishes what will be our magnificent Inauguration presentation, Justin will continue to serve my external operation as Executive Producer for Major Events and Public Appearances.”

  8. 8.

    mrmoshpotato

    Sooooo… did Melon Husk just flat out bitchslap Putin and yell, “He’s my orange bitch now!” or what?

  9. 9.

    West of the Rockies

    How is one guy giving a presidential candidate a quarter of a BILLION $ okay in America?

  12. 12.

    Dangerman

    Never heard of Turo. Is that because I’m an old?

    New Orleans and Vegas both Turo. Guess they are having a shitty 2025.

  13. 13.

    sconosciuto

    During the Bush-Gore campaign a quarter century ago, it was a really big deal that Gore’s campaign may have accepted Chinese money.

    This fucking guy and his entourage can flout any and all security protocols and nothing happens.

    What we need is an army of Luigi’s.

  15. 15.

    Ruckus

    @Nukular Biskits:

    I had a high clearance in the USN because of equipment I was in charge of. It went away the moment I stepped off the ship I was on for 2 years. Didn’t miss it at all. Still don’t.

    And your point is very valid. 2 morons in charge should go over very well. NOT.

  20. 20.

    Bill Arnold

    (From the end of the long previous thread)
    For spaceweather enthusiasts, Earth was hit today with a G4 geomagnetic storm, peaking noonish Eastern time. G2-G3 was expected. (Had some fun with all the solar data feeds!) Lots of flares in combination; a few X-class (one double flare) and a bunch of M-class.
    – 2025 is off to a good start. On Jan. 1st, auroras spilled across the Arctic Circle, spreading as far south as Mexico, Colorado and Arizona during an intense geomagnetic storm.
    – G4 (SEVERE) GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERT THRESHOLD REACHED AT 1241 ET

  21. 21.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Infectious Tick = Persistent Venereal Disease

    Back when I was an intel officer, I held a TS/SCI clearance and was read into several higher “compartments”.  If I had done what Hair Furor did with classified info that he’s skating on, I would have probably ended up in jail.

    I’ve said this repeatedly, the national security risks of this (mal)administration will be dire just from the intelligence side.

    I saw our IT guy in AK, we didn’t have clearances, but was asked in a formal “fill out this form” if he used pot (because pot is legal in AK and has been since the gitgo, it’s written into the state constitution).  He used pot and filled out the form per the request.  Had done so for years, nobody said boo.

    Hair Furor takes office in 2017, our management saw this and told him “no more IT work for you” because of the access we all had at the system level.  They didn’t fire him but moved him into some other job in the office.  He left about 18 months later giving up retirement benefits, etc.  Assholes.

    And here we are…

  23. 23.

    Shalimar

    Musk has rented a cottage at Mar-A-Lago for the last 2 months, but Trump’s plaintive message last week begging Elon to come back because they miss him is pretty strong evidence Musk is not there most of the time.  $2k per day means less to him than a penny does for us.  He’s basically giving Trump a small bribe because he can.

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    The Rose Bowl bands are enjoying Night on Bald Mountain and Alice Cooper repeatedly.

  29. 29.

    Shalimar

    @A Ghost to Most: I didn’t start hating Elon until the incident with the kids trapped in the cave, but that’s because I hadn’t read enough to blame him for horrible experiences with Paypal 20 years ago.  If I had known that from the start, I would have always hated him.

  30. 30.

    KatKapCC

    Is it terrible that I was slightly hoping the child on Musk’s shoulders would choke him out?

  34. 34.

    Suzanne

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Then you, like me, have to take all that stupid contractually-mandatory ethics training. 

    I sure do.
    I don’t actually mind it; ethics are important. What I mind is that whole law-binds-but-does-not-protect thing.

  35. 35.

    Bill Arnold

    @zhena gogolia:
    I composed a comment calling Will Saletan’s piece lazy for not including counterfactuals (that’s the shorter) and decided not to post it.

  39. 39.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Then you, like me, have to take all that stupid contractually-mandatory ethics training.

    Never worked for the government (directly or as a contractor), but when I worked for both financial services and SaaS companies, I had to take mandatory ethics training as well.

  40. 40.

    dnfree

    @zhena gogolia: So you wanted to bring it up again in this post?

    It’s not “pillorying Biden” to have the opinion that his debate performance disqualified him from continuing to be the Democratic candidate and increased the odds against him winning.

  42. 42.

    satby

    @MagdaInBlack: I think the oldest, and maybe the other ones, are the kids he’s in a custody battle with the mother about. So he’s “proving” what an involved daddy he is to his made to order male children.

  44. 44.

    Poe Larity.

    Trump is old, he isn’t interested in ruling. He’ll spend most of his time at the Southern White House, and if you want to talk to him personally, you’ll need to be a member.

    Musk didn’t spend $250M to be relevant, he spent $44B of mostly other peoples money.  Trump will need him because the MAGA crowd will only have a platform if they’re congruent with twitter free speech policy.

  46. 46.

    divF

    @Sister Golden Bear: From the “Welcome to California” at the Oregon border to the San Ysidro Border Crossing at the Mexican Border = 796 miles (all on I-5). (yes, I know that SGB knows this it is for the non-Californians).

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    There was a  conversation here this morning about powerful Republicans who stay out of the news. I thought about this when I read a long Washington Post article about Trump’s endorsement of Mike Johnson for Speaker, and again when I read the read the post above.

    I might ask, where is Trump’s Chief of Staff in all these power stuggles? But I know the answer: Suzie Wiles is out of sight, the way she wants it.

  56. 56.

    eemom

    The Wonkette piece I linked lists some truly bloodcurdling shit he’s done to those poor creatures he spawned. And their mothers.

    And animals.

    And everything else he touches.

    He is a fucking monster.

    Yea, worse than trump. (That I should live to see the day I would utter those words.)

  57. 57.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid: ​
     

    I might ask, where is Trump’s Chief of Staff in all these power stuggles? But I know the answer: Suzie Wiles is out of sight, the way she wants it.

    She’s pretty wily. ;-)

  60. 60.

    tobie

    @Dangerman: I’ve used Turo and am definitely not with it. It began small for folks who wanted to rent their own car for a few bucks. Kinda like Airbnb at its outset. But people and companies with fleets of vehicles got in on the act and now Turo is not so cheap.

    Weird thing: the pickup truck in the NOLA attack was an EV, as is the cybertruck. Is someone trying to derail electric vehicles?

  61. 61.

    Bill Arnold

    @eemom:
    Was curious, and had a look with uspto.gov.
    Elon Reeve Musk has one actual (USA) patent (2013), and 3 design patents.
    US-8579635-B2 “Funnel shaped charge inlet”
    Here’s a better search, with patents.google.com
    (ETA claim one seems pretty narrow.)

  68. 68.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @eemom: Someone said that he is carrying the children around like human shields since the UHC CEO got shot, and I can’t get that visual out of my mind.

  69. 69.

    Jeffro

    @Nukular Biskits:

     

    @Suzanne:

     

    @West of the Rockies:

    absolutely HUGE opportunity here for the Ds (or an Opposition Party to Be Named Later) to run on anti-corruption at all levels.

    (and to beat on the media, publicly, for all parties to be held to the #samestandards)

    it won’t reach the MAGAts but nothing does…reach everyone ELSE, including the folks on the sidelines…

  70. 70.

    Starfish (she/her)

    So the fired Twitter employees STILL haven’t gotten the correct amount of severance, and everyone is still suing Musk over it.

  73. 73.

    Jeffro

    Per the earlier discussion about Chief (In)Justice Roberts…Ruth Marcus in the WaPo notes that one of the targets of Roberts’ criticism is actually JD Vance

    (I’m not defending Roberts, especially since he was too cowardly to name names.  Just noting that even that enabling putz is beginning to understand just what he enabled)

  74. 74.

    Jeffro

    @Jeffro:

    When the Trump administration loses an important case before the Supreme Court — and its first-term record implies that is likely — will Vance counsel defiance and what Roberts called “open disregard”?

    That would be, as Roberts warned, a dangerous suggestion. Usha Vance [former Roberts law clerk!] should urge her husband to mind the Constitution and the chief justice. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to brace for what Roberts might have to report a year from now.

  76. 76.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Nukular Biskits: @divF:

    Yeah, “south of the Tehachapis” is a reasonable definition of SoCal, since they and the Transverse Ranges divide the San Joaquin Valley from areas further south.

    Central Coast CA is generally Santa Barbara-ish to Monterey-ish. The San Francisco Bay Area gets called Northern California mostly because so few people live further north of it. The Far North starts north of Santa Rosa-ish where the Northern Coast Ranges again pose a significant barrier. (In fact the Lost Coast area between Fort Bragg and Eureka is so rugged that Caltrans never tried extending Highway 1 through it.) Non-Californians usually don’t realize how mountainous most of the state is.

  77. 77.

    artem1s

    Jeebus what a loser. why doesn’t he go live in his mother’s basement like a normal loser

  78. 78.

    Randal Sexton

    @Sister Golden Bear: If you are going to divide the state in HALF , then yes The Bay Area is in the NORTH half, and LA is in the SOUTH half.  The Bay Area might be closer to the dividing line , and LA might be closer to the bottom edge,  but it does make sense.  It also makes a little sense for climate reasons, weather and eco systems are a bit different.

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    @Starfish (she/her): LOL. I can’t believe how much people spend on alcohol. Absolutely blows my mind.

    I got bored with drinking during the pandemic. I used to enjoy trying out new cocktails or having a glass of wine with dinner on the weekends. I now have maybe one drink a month, at most. Not out of any principle, just…. meh.

    I will also throw in there that PA’s absolutely terrible liquor laws make me crazy. I miss BevMo.

  80. 80.

    Citizen Alan

    @sconosciuto: hell, as I recall, the republicans were planning to impeach gore if he won because of that one time he talked to a donor and used the wrong telephone!

  82. 82.

    Scout211

    @Starfish (she/her): double shot of whisky

    Shoot! I thought you were linking to Shaboozey.

    Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey

    They know me and Jack Daniels got a history

    There’s a party downtown near Fifth Street

    Everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy

    Everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy

    Everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy

    Just a little late night 🎶

  83. 83.

    Planetjanet

    OT:  During my French lessons tonight, I just realized that the same word means both lawyer and avocado.  There must be a good joke here, but I am not coming up with it.

  84. 84.

    Princess

    @MagdaInBlack: Trump doesn’t even spend time with his own grandchildren. He’s not going to be happy about being pushed to admire Elon’s kids. And Elon is definitely one of those people who thinks everyone will adore his kids as much as he does.

  85. 85.

    Citizen Alan

    @Elizabelle: Nukular Biskits might correct me, but the last time I checked, Mississippi still celebrated Robert E. Lee’s birthday on MLK Day.

  90. 90.

    frosty

    @eemom: I can’t read 75 shitty things that makes the dipshit the Shitheel of the Year. I just can’t. I’ll take Wonkette’s word for it.

  91. 91.

    hitchhiker

    I can’t even stomach the photographs of him. I can’t stomach the idea of anybody with enough brains to string a paragraph together wasting their precious life talking to him.

    Whatever he does or doesn’t do now is of no interest, and don’t scold me for thinking I can safely ignore his ugly face. I didn’t ignore him during the first fiasco, or during the unfolding and collapsing of his court cases.

    I paid attention, and guess what? Every second of it was wasted time. In just this one instance, the less I know, the better off I am. I have some sympathy for people whose work involves covering him, but they could quit and stare at the wall for a few years for all their eager analysis and reporting matters.

  94. 94.

    Scout211

    But did you all know how one word can give away whether you are from NorCal or SoCal?

    If you take the 101 to the 134 to the 5 and get off at Stadium Way, you’ve made it to Dodger Stadium for a baseball game. But you are also obviously in Southern California. Adding “the” before a numbered freeway is one of those linguistic oddities that separates Northern and Southern California.

  95. 95.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    The ethics training we had over the last 5 or so years in DOT was a typical gubmint “check-the-box” kinda thing.

    They went into great detail about how “personal services contracts” were only allowed by an act of Congress.  Many of us then pointed to all the IT contractors scabs, many of whom had been with the agency for years, and said “that’s a personal services contract” since it walked like a duck and quacked like a duck.

    We were told “oh NO, that’s not the case, if it were, it would be illegal”. We then tuned out.

  97. 97.

    eemom

    @Princess:

    And Elon is definitely one of those people who thinks everyone will adore his kids as much as he does.

    uh, the fuckscum does not “adore” his kids. He abuses them.

  98. 98.

    eemom

    @hitchhiker:

    I can’t even stomach the photographs of him.

    That’s where I am too, and the rest of your comment.

    But he keeps being shoved in my face from all directions, so.

  101. 101.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Scout211: “The” preceeding road names is also a thing north of the border.

    In Toronto for example, drivers take “the QEW”, “the 400”, “the 4 oh 1”, “the 4 oh 4”, “the 4 oh 7”, “the Gardiner”, or “the DVP”. In Ottawa you take “the Queensway” for example.

    Maybe it’s a thing due to the French influence with “l’Autoroute 20/ the 20” or “le Met/The Met” in Montreal for example.

    In Alberta, Edmontonians would say “the Whitemud” or “the Henday” for major freeways in the city. In Calgary “Deerfoot” is the only freeway that often uses “the” – all other freeways don’t use “the” in front. However Albertans will often say “The QE2” when driving between both cities.

  104. 104.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Jay: and when it’s 20 below and you drive over the Calf Robe Bridge beside the steam of the water treatment plant, it’s an icy trail too :)

  105. 105.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Nukular Biskits: I didn’t even have a security clearance and I had to pee in a cup to take a job at a megacorp that might have employed me on a government contract (but didn’t).

  106. 106.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Thor Heyerdahl: In the strange little world of roller-coaster enthusiasts, not using “the” before the names of roller coasters is an in-group marker.

    It does seem to me, though, that definite articles usually work better with old-timey wooden coasters, especially if they have sort of generic names, than with modern ones. Most people would probably say “The Cyclone” or “The Thunderbolt”, but “Fury 325” and “Steel Vengeance”.

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    @Jay: ​
     
    On the other hand Antelope Freeway is a freeway, not a trail.
    And it’s only one 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/64 mile away.

  112. 112.

    Trivia Man

    @Suzanne: A friend posted pictures of his gift from an oenophile in-law. 6 bottles of wine. I was curious so i looked them up – total about $2k. Yikes!

    My $15 box now lasts me ~6 months.

  113. 113.

    hitchhiker

    @zhena gogolia:

    I was referring to DT, who never crossed my mind until that stupid escalator and then suddenly became someone I just HAD to pay attention to.

    Still never seen the apprentice. Still never listened to a single speech of his. And never will. I’m really hoping that when he croaks it happens with the cameras rolling, because that’s something I’d put on a loop.

    EM … nope. I’ve learned my lesson. Not giving him anything.

  115. 115.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Jay: driving in Edmonton just before Christmas – I had the snowy version of “am I in a lane?” plus the sloppy bonus version of bright sunshine on deep unplowed slush

  118. 118.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @hitchhiker:I’m really hoping that when he croaks it happens with the cameras rolling, because that’s something I’d put on a loop.

    I was thinking about his death this evening and having it coincide with an recorded, unscripted, unbecoming moment. Like live at a maga event and he massively soils himself first.

  119. 119.

    matt

    To tell the truth, Trump has been remarkably patient with Elmo – I’d be sick of him in about 45 minutes tops.

  120. 120.

    rationalman

    @West of the Rockies: How is one guy giving a presidential candidate a quarter of a BILLION $ okay in America?

     

    @West of the Rockies:

    It is way more than a billion dollars.

    Like over 40 times more. Like 44 billion dollars.

    Elon really bought Twitter to make sure the social media company that was very critical to Trump’s 2016 win would be again be working on Trump’s behalf. Propaganda megaphone.

    2016 Twitter > Trump wins

    2020 Twitter hobbled > Trump loses

    2024 X/Twitter working again > Trump wins

  121. 121.

    Chris Johnson

    @mrmoshpotato: Honestly, I would look to Russia before Elon Musk as to what made the cybertruck go boom. If there was some kind of charge to set it off at the doorstep to the Trump Hotel, that is.

    Russia does not care if bystanders (or in-truck-ers) are hurt in their memes, and that was one hell of a meme.

    And Russia’s goal is always divide, divide, divide, and if Elon thinks he can bitchslap Putin because he controls Starlink, Elon is due for correction.

    This is the big main reason Trump always comes first in Russia’s schemes. Trump is a hollow puppet man, has never had money (it’s been Russia’s the whole time), so Trump cannot threaten back. And so it all hinges on him, where smarter and better conspirators can’t be trusted.

    Elon sure as FUCK can’t be trusted by Russia.

  124. 124.

    Barry

    @Jeffro: “I recently re-started my subscription to TNR among a few other progressive magazines and media.  Good stuff!”

     

    Marty Perez and Andrew Sullivan trashed The New Republic.  It took a lot of rebuildung.

  125. 125.

    Barry

    @Chris Johnson: “Elon sure as FUCK can’t be trusted by Russia.”

     

    Line from a James  Bond movie:  “My specialty is the celebrity overdose.”

     

    I think that Putin could remove Musk, if he really had to.

  126. 126.

    Nettoyeur

    @Planetjanet: French has maybe 60% of the number of words in English, which is a Germanic language with 40% of its vocabulary borrowed from French. French also has a lot of homonyms (eg, the words au, aux, eau, eaux are phonetically indistinguishable in isolation) which makes things worse. My favorite example is la vegetation, which means the vegetation, and les vegetations, which means the adenoids. With out the artice, they sound exactly the same. Avocat is worse. Both the fruit and the lawyer are grammatically masculine.

  127. 127.

    NeenerNeener

    @MagdaInBlack: Since it’s been “Open Season” on small children for over 10 years now, they actually make Musk a bigger target. Maybe Trump is using Musk and his kids as human shields. And Musk is paying him for it.

  128. 128.

    K-Mo

    @Nukular Biskits: 

    @Suzanne:

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    @Jeffro:

    My $.02 on this conversion:

    1- they should drop their obsession with THC.  It’s stupid.   Maybe if we get a roll back on the Federal prohibition it will filter into the security clearance process.

    2- do they need to beef up their rules around heroin, ketamine, and other drugs?

    3- they need to enforce the rules uniformly.  Hearing about all these breaches and special passes is alarming to me not because I have to abide by the rules and they don’t, but because they are taking risks with the nation’s security.   The high profile things we know about have got to be the tip of the iceberg.

    4- IMHO the tedious ethics trainings we have to take are justified and we should keep doing them, and living up to the tedious rules and the attendant culture.  Happy to buy my own chips.

    5-Second Jeffro’s idea to run on this stuff.

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