71 Comments

Wouldn’t the surest way to turn Trump against Musk be to keep referencing his power and saying he’s more powerful than Trump himself?

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While Democrats and the media love this thought, Musk who is actually a billionaire is regularly bribing Trump to enable him to do what he wants. So Trump may be fine with Musk being President. The election has nothing to do with Trump actually being President. It was to avoid going to jail. Which was a beautiful strategy.

It’s clear that insurrections are fine provided you can elect the instigator of them so he can then free you from jail. This is a lesson many Americans don’t seem to understand. Viewing politics through the traditional lens is horribly naive.

There’s a bunch of Republicans and Democrats still living in that world. And are watching as a bunch of NAZIs storm their country. No. Everything isn’t still fine lol

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My initial thought is that Chris' fawning description of Musks actions makes him sound like a publicist. Masks power raises Qs?? Afraid to answer them in fear of upsetting the apple cart?

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Good point

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“The owner of a car company is controlling the House of Representatives from a social media app.” ...Ron Filipkowski

No words

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Sounds like a silly Sitcom plot. 🤨 EGAD! Tis’ Not!

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Elon Musk has his own agenda and it sure isn't in the best interests of the people who voted for Donald Trump.

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I imagine there's a lot of overlap between Trump's and Musk's agendas. Neither is a true populist. Both are 100% out to secure more money for the ultra-wealthy.

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On the nose! We are facing a nightmare future. Although, I do find a bit of solace, knowing that Trump voters who did this, > they are facing Hell to Pay! And years of torment and humiliation, for being Suckers and Fools. Their future relatives will want to change their names, to not be associated to this TRAVESTY!

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Perhaps. Depends how well right-wing media spreads their propaganda to blame others for the travesty. It's worked for them so far.

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The fact that Musk thinks he can dictate policy as an UNLECTED official scares the hell out of me!

IMHO it shows that Trump doesn’t know what he is doing if he allows Musk andRamaswamy to dictate policy.

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The fact that Congressmen are so willing to comply is what really scares me.

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Exactly right. Congress had better be vigilant though, because when the wheels come off the Muskmobile, they will be in the crosshairs of their constituents. Remember that Trump never takes, and is never assigned, blame.

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Yes, but no surprise. Elected officials (and others) have been bending the knee to the unelected Trump for 4 years now. All trump has to do is say "I'm gonna have you primaried" and the earth shakes. And he said it yesterday "anyone who votes for this package is going to primaried." Direct threat, and the targets buckled. Truly terrifying to think about the next 4 years.

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I think Trump knows exactly what he is doing by allowing these two to dictate policy. It’s the old “Teflon Don” at his best. If there is significant blowback from Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s edicts, then Trump can say, “Well, don’t blame me! That was their idea.”

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Trump has dementia, he will be turning into a blathering Baboon, any day now, Elon has become > the most EVIL genius, and will push this too far, he is unable to control his manic brain.

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Where is Joe Biden? What has he got to lose by speaking out. Trump and his cronies are not in power yet. Shut them up ! ! ! I know his favorability ratings are low but who from the Democratic leadership can speak out with any credibility. 75m of us voted for the Democratic candidates. The Repubs didn’t win in a landslide. This is getting ridiculous. Stupid people and their lemmings doing stupid things

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Absolutely agree. Biden is still president. Please at least say something!! His legacy is now so tarnished at least go down with some vigor rather than a whimper

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I agree with both of you. My fear from seeing some of the reporting is that President Biden is declining that quickly and isn't capable of much more. I was not someone who bought into the anger at the folks surrounding President Biden for not sounding the alarm. I have seen first hand (as so many of us have) the insidious nature of aging and know how hard it is to pinpoint. But it feels like something more is going on and the decline is rapid. I really feel terrible for the Bidens.

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We may be in for a big surprise. They all are way too silent,’there is more here than meets the eye.’

If you know what I mean, something big is going to happen. It ain’t over, till it is OVER!

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Yet, I suspect they are VERY BUSY, behind closed doors, secretly meeting with the very TOP secret powers that be, those mysterious drone invaders, their mission > to kidnap Elon, and Trump, to a far away planet. Yup, my mind is grasping at straws.

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Agree. Biden should have weighed in early to say he’s ready to sign the bipartisan deal that was introduced if Congress passes it, and to shame Congress if it does not.

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I actually think i loathe Musk more than DJT.....

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I'm slowly getting there...

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Ponder it: The GOPers haven't even taken control of the government, and yet they still show themselves incapable of governing. Forgive me, but I am not surprised. But some pundits (and I'm looking at Chris, among others) seem shocked -- SHOCKED!! -- that these things are happening. And two weeks ago we were being assured by aforementioned pundits that Johnson had a firm grip on the speakership for 2025. Today, it turns out, that grip is not firm and, indeed, seemingly quite tenuous. While chestnuts roast on an open firem our country is in danger of being burned down.

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Exactly! I think there are a whole lot of us in the So What community that are angry and dismayed but not at all surprised by what we're seeing unfold. Indeed, many have predicted it all along.

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Chris - still stand by your thinking that the guardrails are going to hold?

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I see where Adam Kinzinger called them President Musk and VP Trump in an interview yesterday as well. Will Trump start suing everyone who calls him the VP lol? His ego will not allow Musk to be the center of attention.

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the President Musk meme has gone viral. I read a piece where at least 5-6 Dem leaders have called him that. This is gonna make trump grumpy. Hey. Grumpy Trumpy. I like it.

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All the more reason to keep doing it. :)

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So long as you're going to do CR's and turn it into a Christmas Tree for everyone to add their earmark or wish list, it's easy pickings to find silly things in the legislation and turn people against it.

Yes, Elon has a giant microphone but the real problem is what you pointed out the other day that they're rushing through hundreds of billions of dollars without anyone having the ability to read/understand what's in it.

The issue occurs every year as they don't do real budgets. And, that's why more power goes to the Executive branch over time. To quote Bill Belichick - 'Do your job". It's really that easy.

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Up a creek.

No paddle.

Boat filling with water.

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We WISH it was water filling the boat...

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Boat filling with swamp weeds. and no bailing buckets.

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House Republican leaders are now working on a “plan b” to keep the government open.

(The “b” stands for billionaire.)

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This is silly. Musk has no elected power he had no votes. Elected officials found his message compelling or thought their constituents would find it compelling and reacted accordingly. That is exactly what democracy is supposed to be

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Really? An unelected businessman who injected $277M into Trump's re-election gaining real government power is how democracy is supposed to work?

Interesting perspective.

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Where do you see, "REAL government power?!" He didn't vote and in no way shape or form did he have functional control of the process.

Money in politics is a fair question, but an entirely different one. (And way too difficult for me to deal with here.)

If you don't acknowledge. 1. Elon had influence here, but no TECHNICAL control of the process, and 2. He would not have had INFLUENCE if a large percentage of the voting public (maybe a minority, but a significant one) did not accept his message, you are not presenting this issue accurately

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The money in politics is THE issue, but you run from it.

No "technical" control? Laughable.

Again, though, interesting perspective.

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I find this really scary.

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If Musk manages to stop Trump from doing anything legislatively, by creating disfunction I’m up for that. No money means no tax cuts. No deportations. No border security. lol

It’s not that Musk has any power, it’s more that Republicans are so weak. They haven’t and can’t pass anything without Democrats. And MAGAS refuse to work with democrats.

Trump will become frustrated with this eventually and will then breach the law and the constitution to get what he wants. And that’s when Americans will be able to remove him. As without a constitution followed by a president the executive branch becomes just a bunch of thugs. There’s absolutely no way the next 4 years ends peacefully. That’s such a naive point of view.

If Trump and Musk actually help manage to help to raise middle class Americans standard of living. That’s a great example of power. But that’s not actually their goal. It’s idiocy. lol

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It's far more probable that the next four years end peacefully than otherwise. Of course, throughout this interesting time there will be scattered, violent incidents. A few people may be assinated, a few buildings may be blown up, but there's no reason to fear the kind of systemic violence that would threaten our Republic.

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I would rephrase the word power. It feeds his gigantic EGO!

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