• qprimed@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    And letting a thin-skinned, Ketamine-fueled, video-game cheating, Nazi apologist billionaire take over the machinery of the United States is not something that anyone voted for.

    mother jones throwin hands.

  • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Elect a puppet, get a puppet. If anyone looked at Trump’s bankroll for the election and thought, “Wow, what a bunch of great people donating for a better tomorrow,” you are out of your fucking mind.

  • Oisteink@feddit.nl
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    2 days ago

    Yet he’s there, and someone gave him that power, yet you’re mad at musk. So easily fooled. Focus on the reason he’s there, not what he dies

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        1 day ago

        Go ahead and do just that. You can’t touch him and if you try you will be marked. He will have a pardon if needed. Even if you physically removed him from the earth trump will put another in his place.

        But go ahead and spend your time and energy on him. I predict it will be futile

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, his actual actions are totally unimportant. What can a guy who is in charge of the entire U.S. in everything but name possibly do that people should focus on?

      • Oisteink@feddit.nl
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        2 days ago

        Its about removing the root cause, not extinguishing the fire. It will just break out again

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          I’m guessing you are not one of the people who will lose their jobs or their livelihoods or get put in a concentration camp any time soon. Which makes saying ignore what they actually do a lot easier.

          People imprisoned in Gitmo for the horrendous crime of not having the proper documentation on their person when arrested will not have the luxury of caring about removing the root cause.

          • Oisteink@feddit.nl
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            2 days ago

            No - i was lucky and wasn’t born in the land of the free. You guys keep on attacking the scape goat. Good for you, het him out and prepare for the next one. Its like gamification - bread and circus.

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      2 days ago

      Nah. Seize his assets, but make him stay here. Make that Nazi bastard experience life the American Way™ - living paycheck to paycheck at a minimum wage job (cause the moment his net worth guess to zero, his political influence does as well - another trademarked advantage of American living).

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Oh, I love that idea. Actually, first give him some time, where he gets to work for less than minimum wage at a totally shit job.

        Then release him, with the criminal record. See how he does…

        • Jericho_Kane@lemmy.org
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          I really don’t think it’ll work. Americans absolutely love their celebrities. Elon musk will never be poor, people will just give him money for existing.

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        1 day ago

        He’d still be a celebrity, a couple of talk show invitations and he’d be better off than the bar majority of Americans. Not to speak of other opportunities he’d have.

        • forrgott@lemm.ee
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          Zero assets? Yeah, I really doubt that. He’s not smart. And his popularity? You think any of these sociopaths in power actually like each other? Not a chance.

          The moment there’s no chance of material gain by sucking up to him, he’d be tossed aside.

          I really wish we’d stop hero worshipping the most worthless fools amongst us.

          • Damage@feddit.it
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            1 day ago

            So here in Italy a few days ago, a small mountain town got invaded by 10000 people because a random tiktok influencer posted that she was there skiing.

            Never underestimate people’s stupidity and attraction to celebrities.

      • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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        Pipe dreams. Billionaires have beat the system. They’ll never be on our level, even after “losing” everything.

        It sucks. But unless some external force is involved, they’ll never ever face repercussions for any of the bad they’ve ever done. This is the system they’ve built and designed for themselves.

      • Jericho_Kane@lemmy.org
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        2 days ago

        More like a: “let’s see if the peasants care and are willing to do anything about it and worst case, he’ll get a pardon” crime.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That’s literally his job worked and had worked for decades.

      You know what didn’t exist for decades and just began with Trump? Elon’s DOGE, which is how he’s running the entire country.

      Fauci can’t drain your bank account. Elon has all the data he needs to do it.

      • jonne@infosec.pub
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        They have a point, tho. Doge was announced before the election, Trump told everyone he would appoint Musk. Presidents appoint thousands of unelected people to various positions at the start of an administration. When you’re voting for a President, part of it is trusting their judgement as to who they’ll pick. I don’t think it should be a surprise to anyone that Trump would appoint a bunch of batshit crazy people to various positions, it’s what happened last time.

        Maybe Fauci isn’t the best example of that tho, as he’s been an apolitical career official for decades, as you said.

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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      Fauci isn’t a Nazi kleptocrat who is trying to dismantle the administrative state.

      Reactionaries sure love to play dumb, huh?

      Hey, what do we call Nazi apologists?

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        2 days ago

        But he did have a lot power, and that was my point. I could probably name a bunch of other men, but he’s one of the most well known of Bidens admin.

        • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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          What power did he really have?

          You’re just repeating reactionary talking points, not really a surprise.

          He was also one of the most well known of “Trump’s men.” Here’s a hint: each STATE decided whether they would shut things down or not.

          Hey, what do we call Nazi apologists?

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              Took you all morning to think of that gem, huh?

              Being a Nazi apologist must consume all of your brainpower.

          • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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            Hey, what do we call Nazi apologists?

            You’re asking someone who manages to get downvoted on conservative communities to answer that. I’m not sure what answer you would get other than “the good guys.”

            • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              Oh, I appreciate the heads-up, but I’m well aquatinted with this particular reactionary.

              I just think it’s important to point out that he’s a Nazi apologist; I don’t really expect a coherent answer.

  • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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    1 day ago

    Yeah, most of us didn’t vote for Trump either. We need to reform the elections to establish an actual democracy

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    2 days ago

    He didn’t seize control. He was given it by the President. I figured the article would cover the nuance the headline missed, but it didn’t.

    And then I see others here making the same point and getting downvoted.

    The problem is Trump and the very best people he is once again bringing in.

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    2 days ago

    But they knew the close relationship, the money spent, the egos of all involved. How did they NOT see this coming? I hate to say it but it was inevitable that something bad was going to happpen, maybe not as fast as it has, but it was clear a vote for Trump was a vote for Musk.

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      I think less people actually knew than we think. Sure they saw Musk on stage with their mango mussolini, but they couldn’t put two and two together.

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        Yeah, it’s a bummer but I think many comments are giving the American public too much credit.

        The combined effects of “decent white Christians simply vote Republican” and “super rich white man good, two super rich white men better” probably count for a majority of trump’s votes.

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    To be fair Elon was announced at the RNC aka the Break The Grindr party. Everyone was bummed that JD Vance had an Indian wife and he was barely a 6 (tho the talking heads kept shameless commenting how hott he was). All the pussy dried up and then Trumps crew started showing Musk off. He’s been a lovely item ever since. Guy is swept up in what little glamour there is for those swamp monsters. Now his tanks are tanking. The kardassians curse strikes again.

  • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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    Yes they did. Musk and Trump literally campaigned together, Musk was on-stage next to Trump at multiple rallies where he spoke too. It was clearly reported during the election that Musk was spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get Trump elected.

    Here’s an article from September (before the election) with Trump saying he’d create DOGE and have Musk lead it. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-elon-musk-government-efficiency-commission-e831ed5dc2f6a56999e1a70bb0a4eaeb

    Anyone who voted from trump and didn’t expect this is either lying, or intentionally being ignorant.

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      They’re fucking morons.

      It’s odd though. The it guy at the company I work for is a trump fan, and he’s not stupid. I don’t understand this world anymore.

      I retreat into my own world now.

        • Loduz_247@lemmy.world
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          The Smithsonian Institution needs more funding so it can build museums outside of DC and its surrounding areas. It’s a way to combat ignorance.

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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            2 days ago

            not just because of that. the smithsonian represents a massive collection of our culture that the government has gathered so that we don’t have access to it. much of it the prizes of the 2-3 genocides our government has inflicted

      • Loduz_247@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        The MAGAs and Trumpists just need a reality check from the administration itself that they can’t hide or pretend. Something like WaterGate

        • krashmo@lemmy.world
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          lol that’s not going to happen. The train has left the station and everyone with the capacity to choose to get off has already done so. Stop hoping for a moment that will never come.

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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          We had J6, FFS. The most filmed crime in history. The biggest investigation in history.

          Did not fucking matter. Idiots like Watters brush that off by saying the terrorists there on that day were “overcharged” and, therefore, their pardon is justified.

      • SatanClaus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        My best friend’s husband is also. Along with my dad. Both said they just wanted lowered taxes. I cannot begin to describe how intelligently fucking stupid these people are.

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          Selfishness is the cause there. “I just want lower taxes” as they ignore all the horrendous stuff Trump says/does just so they can have more money for themselves.

          Big “I got mine, fuck you.” energy there.

          Well with the Republicans new tax plan they’ll get increased taxes and all the horrible shit that comes with this administration. Hope they’re happy.

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            Yeah, you get your lower taxes, and then you just have to use some of the money you got to keep and some extra to pay for all the services you got for free. That’s the bargain Americans already made for health care, and now they’ll get it with food safety, the environment, the weather, etc.

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      You and I are paying attention at a level of detail that almost no Americans do. It would merely take an ordinary level of ignorance to be unaware of this.

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      Hard agree. My mom is not the most politically literate person, and never cared much about tech, EVs, or space flight, but this summer out of nowhere she started talking about how great this Musk guy was and all his business accomplishments.

      The Trump voters have been have been fully prepped on how to feel about Elmo for quite some time now.

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    Remember: it’s not just trump and musk to blame, the entire Republican party is responsible for supporting all this.

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      If you want to do a bit of Both-Sides-ism, big chunks of the Dem Establishment have also been very friendly with Elon. FFS, he didn’t have any trouble landing contracts under the Biden Admin. And he led Gavin Newsom around by the nose with his Hyperloop promises for nearly a decade.

      But I’d say the more pervasive concern is how heavily leveraged Elon’s businesses are with respect to his Saudi creditors. And that’s the real snarl at the end of this problem. The US has made the Saudi Royal Family such an enormous nexus of dollar inputs and outputs that Aramco might as well be a second Federal Reserve.

      Our addiction to fossil fuels is driving significant chunks of our bad policy, both domestic and foreign. And while you can wax poetic about Americans “not voting for this”, there’s a deep socio-economic bond between American industry and cheap oil. Americans “vote” for the Saudis with their labor hours and their consumer spending on a daily basis.

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        Also if the dem inside trader are happy with their stock going to the moon they dont care what happen to the rest.

        The whole establishment is based on corruption and foreign influence.

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        We don’t have a lot amount of choice in our employment and consumer spending because of regulatory capture and economies of scale. Without any new coordination mechanism, getting off oil will have to be a top-down change.

        Big oil has convinced us to cut down our own “carbon footprint” to encourage purity testing and exhaustion instead of collective action. They know it’s an externalities problem… do we?

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          We don’t have a lot amount of choice in our employment and consumer spending because of regulatory capture and economies of scale.

          That’s true to a degree. But all too often, I see employment and consumer choices influenced by propaganda rather than raw economic forces. Whether or not you attend college is often not an economic choice but one of peer pressure and social expectation. Whether you move into the city or stay remote in the suburbs/exurbs is as much an expression of your social anxieties (amplified by “if it bleeds, it leads” local media coverage) as your economic position. While driving isn’t typically a choice, the size and shape of your vehicle absolutely is. People opting for increasingly large and ostentacious large-cab trucks and luxury SUVs are not acting under economic constraints. Often, Americans will pay a premium to live remote, drive a gas-guzzler, and subsist on disposables as an expression of their wealth.

          This isn’t a problem other countries have. Germany, Japan, South Africa, India, Brazil, Mexico, even fucking Russia have figured out how to build densely and leverage mass transit to bring down waste. The Americans are uniquely incapable of developing efficiently. A big part of that is purely cultural, with white Americans having fled to the suburbs to avoid their black neighbors in the 70s/80s and putting a premium on one story ranch homes even in areas like San Fransisco or Chicago or Atlanta, where land is at a premium.

    • podperson@lemm.ee
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      Never let Mitch McConnell off the hook, despite how he now says he doesn’t like what Trump his doing. Since this all started, he has done nothing but enable him and has done as much as anyone to put the guy in power. Same to be said of Graham. When this all goes terribly wrong(er), none of us should, for a second, allow them a pass on any future backtracking or apologizing that they might do.

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    I’m not in the US, but the news coming out almost daily since Trump took office has been pretty worrying to me. I encourage everyone to watch and spread this video: How Tech Billionaires Plan to Destroy America. I feel like a tinfoil hatter but, what’s laid out in the video is very convincing after just a couple weeks into Trump’s presidency.

    • Zero22xx@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      2 days ago

      Yeah, watching this unfold makes me wonder just how useless things like a constitution and laws and due process really are in every other country. Because apparently none of those things actually matter and some rich asshole that wasn’t elected can seize power tomorrow if they want. While no one does anything about it. Makes it all seem like a big joke.

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        Yeah it’s crazy to me, over 300 million citizens in the US alone, but just a handful of billionaires is all it takes to destroy democracy and the government. It honestly feels like violence will be the only option to get at these billionaires as it seems there is no longer any way to cripple them financially. They are completely fearless in their meddling.

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        It’s the result of over 50 years of chipping away at all the anti corruption laws. Trump wouldn’t have been able to do this with the laws put in after Nixon, but there’s been a concerted effort to overturn all of it through the Supreme Court.

        You should listen to the Masterplan podcast that lays it all out, if you haven’t yet.

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          I disagree there, they are still breaking laws, like what Musk is doing at Treasury, but there is no one enforcing the law. No one (Founding Fathers) accounted for Congress and the Supreme Court being so captured that they would do nothing to threats like this.

          That is a huge difference from Nixon. His own party turned against him quickly when the evidence showed the illegal actions were connected to him directly. The modem Republicans never will do that to Trump or things he commands.

    • Random Dent@lemmy.ml
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      Yeah as a non-American, it certainly does look from the outside as if a ketamine-fuelled Nazi is going around just taking over government offices largely unopposed.

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    Nobody voted for Musk, but they did vote for Trump. They voted for a GOP controlled senate and a GOP controlled house. They voted for this administration despite the Project 2025 roadmap making it clear what Trump and the GOP were going to do if they were put in charge. And now, they’re doing it.

    In the past they haven’t protested as more and more power has been given to presidents, both D and R. So now Trump is using all that power and delegating it to someone of his choosing. This isn’t a coup. A coup is an unlawful seizure of power. The power was handed to Trump and the GOP lawfully, and Trump is just delegating.

    This is a real Leopards Eating People’s Faces moment for the USA. This is the result of decades of the American people expressing their will, or at least not objecting strenuously. This is the country that voted Carter out of office and enthusiastically voted in Reagan. It’s a country where most of the democrats celebrate Bill Clinton, despite his policies of deregulation and deindustrialization. Compare that to Germany where the mere fact that the slightly right-wing government was willing to work with two far-right AfD members has been enough to get hundreds of thousands of people out on the street, protesting.