It's logical to blame Musk and then Trump, but the Republicans in Congress could have made their own choice and told both men to go stuff it. They could have said NO NO NO and then gone ahead and voted for the bipartisan continuing resolution that was presented to them. Their choice was to betray their constituents and capitulate. Craven cowards.
I agree, Laurie. To blame Musk and/or Trump somehow absolves the representatives. THEY were elected, and THEY have a job description . Trump is not currently president, AND approving funding is not his job. Musk is unelected, and his calls to representatives should have no more power than yours or mine.
I am not being intentionally naive…I am saying that we need to remind representatives of this.
THEY own this mess. They chose to cower to 1-2 men whose task this is not.
Imagine the impact to Article I if Congress took its job seriously.
I am taken by surprise that President elect, not President yet, is inserting himself into the presidency before he is even inaugurated. Involving himself in the current budget, etc. where does he get off doing this? And more so, applicable to Musk! I don’t recall this taking place in years past.
And why do we and our representatives tolerate this?
Fl Rep Maxwell Frost does not “tolerate this”. Go Maxwell !!!!💙
… Musk also threatened to take out Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost in the next election after Frost trolled him: “The people of central Florida will kick this jackass out in 2 years.” Musk knows absolutely zero about politics in central FL.
… Rep. Frost responded by posting a form for candidates to file to run for Congress with this caption: “OK, Elon. Here’s the candidate form for your run against me. The people of Central Florida don’t really like corrupt rich guys though.”
Sounds like it is time to start a small recurring donation to Maxwell Frost on ActBlue. He has a year-round organizing campaign, which in my opinion is what most of the Democrats are missing! I just set up my contribution, anyone care to join me?
TFG torpedoed the immigration bill during the campaign this year. He was meeting with foreign leaders in mar a lago, which is against the law but nobody seemed to care. This is standard operating procedure for him.
Of course it's the money available for the next campaign. Justice Roberts green-lighted Musks's buying elections back in 2010. He probably never imagined it would come to this.... but here we are.
Absolutely. Their Long Game is now perfectly clear. This is why none of them cared about trump's mental and physical condition. It was their last chance at grabbing power to do what they have planned for God knows how many years.
It’s wild when people say they’re surprised. Have you been living under a rock for the last nine years? He’s been running a shadow government since 2020 alone. Wake TF up.
Musk bought the election. If he weren't in the US, I suspect Harris would have won. Musk poured more than $250 million into the election. IMO he should be deprived of his citizenship and deported. Of course, he wouldn't have been able to spend that money on the election had the Roberts Court not passed citizens united.
I'm with you all the way on Trump. He should be staying the hell out of the gov't's business until he's inaugurated.
What will happen if planes stop flying for the holidays? Shouldn’t a shut down be a shutdown of all the services the government provides — like a lockout except the negotiation seems to be between Johnson and Elon not between employees and employer? Why should people work when they are not getting paid? Has Congress ever done that? Has Elon? Trump has never worked so we don’t have to ask about him.
air traffic controllers and TSA Officers would be required to work without pay—potentially leading to significant delays and longer wait times for travelers at airports across the country.
All government employees deemed essential have to work without pay. My sis is a supervisor in the SBA and she worked the last shutdown and expects to work this one. Vacation canceled and work.
Actually, it was written in 2021. I just had to find a video of her reciting it - she adds so much with her inflections and gestures: https://youtu.be/WBERVCT44J4
What they did to Fani Willis was obviously wrong. But I go another way about the hypocrisy and double standards when it comes to men: Ms. Willis got caught thinking with the female equivalent of the male small head, a problem men have had, and been caught having, pretty much forever (yes men have often escaped the consequences but nowhere near always). In this particular case I have no doubt that the result would have been the same if the genders of the principals had been reversed: the politics are exactly the same and it's the politics, not law, fairness or common sense that made this outcome inevitable.
STOP REFERRING TO MUSK AS A POLITICAL LEADER, HE WAS NOT ELECTED, APPOINTED, NOMINATED FOR ANYTHING! HE HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY, VALID PLACE DICTATING LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS. HE IS NOT IN GOVERNMENT! HE MUST BE PERMANENTLY REMOVED FROM TRYING TO INFLUENCE THE GOINGS ON AT CAPITOL HILL! TRYMP IS NOT YET PRESIDENT, HE HAS NO POWER. ALL OF THE CONGRESSIONAL PLAYERS IN THIS CLUSTER FUCK NEED TO TELL MUSK AND TRUMP TO FUCK OFF! YES, I AM YELLING!
While I understand your frustration with references we are hearing to Musk as a leader, or even "President Musk" - there is a purpose to it, which is to basically make fun of him and point out just how much he is not those things. It is sarcasm, and Hakeem Jeffries seems to have mastered the tactic well.
I get it Susan, I do. However, it forces me to look at who will not give a shit, Musk. If the government shuts down today it matters not how we indulge ourselves in satirical finger pointing at him. I am afraid that I am still bitter about how feckless Dems are at getting what we need, while Republicans seem to do whatever it takes that moves their agenda forwards. Knife to a gunfight.
I would not say this was done just as satirical finger pointing to enjoy a joke. This was done to show Musk that he knows nothing about governing. It showed even 38 Republicans that Musk and Trump have no idea what they are doing. The Democrats brought this to the finish line and got a far better deal than the one Musk/Trump wanted. Trump wanted no debt ceiling, ordered it. He did not get it - his agenda failed. This is exactly what the Democrats wanted, which was a bi-partisan deal. The first one failed because of the Musk/Trump sideshow. The 2nd deal stuck and they won. One battle at a time, if they continue to stand up to Trump, we just might still have a country in 4 years.
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk and SpaceX face at least three federal reviews over whether they have complied with federal reporting rules aimed at protecting national security, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
This is not the first time the security practices of the SpaceX founder have been questioned by the Pentagon.
The Times said the new reviews were initiated by the Air Force, the Defense Department's Inspector General and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. It cited eight people with knowledge of the rocket company and internal documents.
In September, DOJ asserted that Sergey Kiriyenko had created some 30 internet domains to spread Russian disinformation, including on Elon Musk’s X which was formerly known as Twitter. In October, the Wall Street Journal disclosed that Musk had been in contact with Kiriyenko and Vladimir Putin which Dmitry Peskov affirmed.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Kiriyenko
Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russias-prigozhin-admits-interfering-us-elections-2022-11-07/ What does Musk know and if he does know, when did he know it?
Agree with Susan and would add that the intent is to undermine and anger Trump. He is most definitely not the brains of the operation. Are people going to start talking about the diminution in his mental capacities at some point? Or is that well hidden and just attributed to his well-known crazy, mercurial actions?
Musk is a political leader to the extent he has political power. Power is not a matter of elections and offices. Musk has political power to the extent he has access to and credibility from the President Elect and more money than anyone else. There is no process to remove people from having influence except the power, resistance and commitment of those opposed plus the weaknesses of those trying to exercise that power. Whatever genius Musk may possess, it's not in the political sphere where he is a neophyte and if not an actual moron, something pretty close.
I have heard a lot about how Musk has gained his wealth, and if even part of those stories are true, I would say his genius is in taking advantage of people who started a business, or new technology, and leveraging his wealth to buy them out. His history says he never really was genius enough to create anything himself.
I've mentioned before that Musk seems to lose interest in his project of the moment when it reaches the point he no longer is able to manage it. He has done this repeatedly. At the chaos replication rate we are already at, I suspect he might reach that point rather sooner than later. I am looking for ways to help that happen.
My grim sense of satisfaction at the power meltdown in Congress is tempered by Amanda Gorman’s total lack of cynicism. Fani’s disqualification in the Georgia case is of course despicable. Somehow all of this turmoil fails to dim my hope in the future, and some of that hope, I am sure, is attributable to your tireless optimism, Robert. Thank you for keeping our spirits positive even in this dark season.
The reason Trump wants to raise the debt ceiling for so long now is so he can jack up our debt, like he did last time, by giving massive tax breaks to the rich, again. I am not a fan of the debt ceiling, but those tax breaks are tantamount to a person refusing income and saying that's okay - I'll just borrow it.
And then there is this lunacy: ""If we don't get it, then we're going to have a shutdown, but it'll be a Biden shutdown, because shutdowns only [injure] the person who's president," he told ABC News." I hope ABC pushed back on that ignorant statement - I had stepped away from the news this week.
Shut downs injure the country, and with him acting like he is already President, any part of this country with common sense knows he did this, and he is exacting what he thinks is petty revenge. He is showing his immaturity and likelihood of ruining the economy. As I retire at end of year, I need to watch my 401K closely.
Here's what Rick Wilson says, "Here’s a message for Democrats: you must, must, must brand this shutdown right now as the MAGA shutdown.
"This shutdown’s on the GOP’s doorstep—100%, no wiggle room, no excuses. I don’t care which scapegoat they try to trot out, the bottom line is this: the MAGA Republicans have proven, even before Donald Trump waltzes back into the Oval Office for a second term, that they are utterly unfit to manage a Waffle House, much less run a government."
Now, how do we make that happen, given that Musk controls X, there is a right-wing slant to most social media, and our "legacy media" are terrified of telling the truth if it annoys Trump?
The reason Dems lose the propaganda wars is that professional Democrats (e.g. Democratic National Committee, Biden Administration spokespersons) have two metaphorical lead feet. I wonder where they get such people.
Thanks for this. This is so good! How do we influence our "leaders" to do this? And we must not cede whole categories ("wellness influencers," "tech podcasts," etc to the right wing, as we have done with rural voters.
Hopefully you took some defensive action in light of Trump's re-election in terms of reducing the stock allocation. I retired in 2018 so I had arranged a bigger cash cushion than I might have otherwise under a Democratic administration and went to a more conservative allocation in my 401k.
I have kept a cash cushion, but my 401K was never going to be more than a small additional source of income. Under Biden, I invested back more in stocks as things looked better. I watch it closely and if the trend heads downward too far, then I make changes to allocation.
Robert, wow, nice. Ignatius Spirituality, which is the basis of how Jesuits live their faith (in large part), is defined in what you share. I have I introduced this to so many folks over the years.
Also thank you for sharing about Loudon Co VA phone banks. Earlier I was feeling a tad what am I going to do instead of illegally streaming Dune (new series on HBO). Find that phone bank that Thurs phone bank! And an incredibly diverse group of 30 folks by age and other background shared some space loving on the Leesburg area!
MAGAlomania is going to present us Information Warriors in MAGAstan and The NonVoterlands with many juicy opportunities. I would so like to sit down with some of you---in-person or Zoom--and brainstorm this project below.
Amid the talk about the left developing more media outlets--mostly digital I take it---how can we reach people who aren't politically involved, may not be computer-literate or fluent readers, or be likely to look even at PBS-level news, let alone pay for progressive writers?
Earlier eras' "broadside" papers included whole speeches reprinted, posted on public walls, but I propose 2-3 sentence max, with color or graphic, and not counting on strong reading skills or long attention span.
Pre-election, I started to make small stickers--graffiti or memes on various-sized mailing labels-- for posting where people pass or might wait and be bored: at gas pumps, street corner poles, bus benches, trashcan sides, near ATMs, at the DMV, even in bathroom stalls, etc. These Stickies, as I call them, can present a way to: methodically publicize achievements of the Biden administration as a baseline: to counter MAGA's Lie of the Day; to summarize various aspects of Project 2025; and to present ethical and moral questions without invectives. Longer things, like poems, could also draw the eye and provoke thought. Content could change as frequently as desired and could deliver a whole lot of civic literacy, one concise bite at a time. Each Stickie may well be seen only by a few random people. A small piece of paper stuck outdoors will shred, fade, be rained on, written on, ripped off, who knows? But they're cheap and easy to print and stick up, and replace
Sorry about the color; I will learn to fix. I don't know who made the 3 memes with graphics but want to thank them. Some photos show Stickies too distant to read -- just included to show a good site.
Please contact me at melodic.sonic.net. I'm really hoping to find collaborators.
Peggy, I think your idea is timely, relevant, inclusive, low-cost, low-tech, easy to grasp and simple to implement. It invites creativity on the part of participants, and I believe it has the potential to catch on and go viral. It is a non-threatening way to reach out to the millions of low-information Trump voters (who are already feeling a growing sense of buyer's remorse) with some kernels of truth and logic that they can connect with and act on.
Just as importantly, though, it provides every dispirited and terrified progressive (like me) with a simple, yet very meaningful, activity that can make a tangible difference. Plus, it's low-risk - something that we can each engage in without having to personally interact with people in our target audience who might not yet be ready for one-on-one contact.
I think your idea has the potential to become the basic mechanism with which progressive activists can begin the process of connecting the dots for those who were mislead, lied to, and are already being ripped off by the Musk-dominated Republican oligarchy. Building a well informed and politically savvy electorate is the only way we'll be able to avoid America becoming a replica of Russia.
I tried clicking on the link you provided but was unable to connect.
I was able to look at the examples also by clicking on the 1st link, but clicking on the 2nd link (to contact Peggy directly) still results in an error message. I will try replacing a "period" in the 2nd link with an "@" to see if that works.
Good idea! Need some good 2-3 liners about how the govt works. Like, “did you know tariffs are why things cost so much?” “Is your elected official voting in your interest”? So so many possibilities here. I think framing these as questions gets people to be more open than declarative statements. It works that way for me, anyway.
The closing comments are again excellent and the piece on religious responsibility is worthwhile reading for anyone who considers themselves Christian, regardless of sectarian affiliation.
If there was any courage or self-confidence left in Congress they'd all say "Bring it on" to Musk's threat of primary opposition and pass the bipartisan bill while giving him the single finger salute. Fear remains a bully's only weapon and bending over doesn't make it stop.
Yes. However the hierarchy and catholic supreme justices, Opus Dei have more control. I am very biased against religions so there's that, so my remarks contain that bias.
Nor do they get any from me as a general rule but that's not what the discussion was about. The point of the article is to contrast the expressed ideals of the organized "Christian" church with the behavior and actions of the elected politicians their members support and, hopefully, to get at least some of them to start thinking about it and withdraw that support.
Robert, thank you for framing the chaos of the past 24 hours with a sense of humor. Trump taking a lap around a buffet table seems about right.
Amanda Gorman’s eloquent new poem is one that I will read and reread. It seems the perfect way to spend a few contemplative moments on Inauguration Day when we will all need to draw strength for the days ahead.
What gifts Amanda and you are to us in this season of giving. Locking arms and hearts with this community, onward we go.
Robert, bountiful thanks for the excerpts from Valerie Schultz & Amanda Gorman. The bonus is your comment about Jill teaching Amanda's mother! We all are truly connected in so many ways!
It's logical to blame Musk and then Trump, but the Republicans in Congress could have made their own choice and told both men to go stuff it. They could have said NO NO NO and then gone ahead and voted for the bipartisan continuing resolution that was presented to them. Their choice was to betray their constituents and capitulate. Craven cowards.
I agree, Laurie. To blame Musk and/or Trump somehow absolves the representatives. THEY were elected, and THEY have a job description . Trump is not currently president, AND approving funding is not his job. Musk is unelected, and his calls to representatives should have no more power than yours or mine.
I am not being intentionally naive…I am saying that we need to remind representatives of this.
THEY own this mess. They chose to cower to 1-2 men whose task this is not.
Imagine the impact to Article I if Congress took its job seriously.
Craven cowards is far too polite.
I am taken by surprise that President elect, not President yet, is inserting himself into the presidency before he is even inaugurated. Involving himself in the current budget, etc. where does he get off doing this? And more so, applicable to Musk! I don’t recall this taking place in years past.
And why do we and our representatives tolerate this?
Fl Rep Maxwell Frost does not “tolerate this”. Go Maxwell !!!!💙
… Musk also threatened to take out Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost in the next election after Frost trolled him: “The people of central Florida will kick this jackass out in 2 years.” Musk knows absolutely zero about politics in central FL.
… Rep. Frost responded by posting a form for candidates to file to run for Congress with this caption: “OK, Elon. Here’s the candidate form for your run against me. The people of Central Florida don’t really like corrupt rich guys though.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/meidastouch/p/politics-today-bulletin-30-121924?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Sounds like it is time to start a small recurring donation to Maxwell Frost on ActBlue. He has a year-round organizing campaign, which in my opinion is what most of the Democrats are missing! I just set up my contribution, anyone care to join me?
https://www.frostforcongress.com/
I'd love to see fundrasing spike up for any Democrats Musk threatens to primary.
TFG torpedoed the immigration bill during the campaign this year. He was meeting with foreign leaders in mar a lago, which is against the law but nobody seemed to care. This is standard operating procedure for him.
Of course it's the money available for the next campaign. Justice Roberts green-lighted Musks's buying elections back in 2010. He probably never imagined it would come to this.... but here we are.
Or did he imagine it would come to this? Seriously there has been a plan in place for way longer than we all conceived.
Absolutely. Their Long Game is now perfectly clear. This is why none of them cared about trump's mental and physical condition. It was their last chance at grabbing power to do what they have planned for God knows how many years.
It’s wild when people say they’re surprised. Have you been living under a rock for the last nine years? He’s been running a shadow government since 2020 alone. Wake TF up.
Why be so rude to someone who shares your values? “Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.”—Margaret Killjoy
Thank you, Karen.
Enough with the pearl clutching. My god. Dems love to bring a feather to a missile fight. Get over it.
“Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy.” This is not pearl-clutching. Use your fine aggressive energy against the real enemy.
Musk bought the election. If he weren't in the US, I suspect Harris would have won. Musk poured more than $250 million into the election. IMO he should be deprived of his citizenship and deported. Of course, he wouldn't have been able to spend that money on the election had the Roberts Court not passed citizens united.
I'm with you all the way on Trump. He should be staying the hell out of the gov't's business until he's inaugurated.
So many good questions George!!!
I feel especially sorry for the TSA staff who will be working one of the heaviest travel weekends of the year without being paid in a timely manner.
What will happen if planes stop flying for the holidays? Shouldn’t a shut down be a shutdown of all the services the government provides — like a lockout except the negotiation seems to be between Johnson and Elon not between employees and employer? Why should people work when they are not getting paid? Has Congress ever done that? Has Elon? Trump has never worked so we don’t have to ask about him.
air traffic controllers and TSA Officers would be required to work without pay—potentially leading to significant delays and longer wait times for travelers at airports across the country.
All government employees deemed essential have to work without pay. My sis is a supervisor in the SBA and she worked the last shutdown and expects to work this one. Vacation canceled and work.
Not all. Some. She is a supervisor.
SSA judges once were "terminated" for "illegally working" during a shutdown.
Curious about their voting preference. Have no idea.
New Day's Lyric
by Amanda Gorman
(attempted to edit the line spacing but Substack will not allow it!)
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren't ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren't aware, we're now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once altogether beaten,
Now all together beat.
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day's lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we've fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
This segment appeals to me:
"This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next."
"for deep in my heart, I do believe, that we shall overcome some day"
Actually, it was written in 2021. I just had to find a video of her reciting it - she adds so much with her inflections and gestures: https://youtu.be/WBERVCT44J4
Thank you, Bob!
She was prescient, wasn’t she?
She certainly was. When I realized it wasn't new, but how relevant her words were, I thought the same thing.
I was amazed when I checked the link to the entire poem. It was so spot on for our current situation.
Thank you 🙏🏽. Amanda is a sparkling light in the world✨
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Robert and JustRaven for publishing this poem by Amanda Gorman
I love the title "Speaker-in-Name-Only" for Mike Johnson, the spineless SPINO.
Just imagine the damage that could be done if Mike Johnson were truly Speaker of the House. Maybe we should be thankful for small favors.
Come Together, People. Hold hands and hearts, together we Will get through this.
Bless you Robert and Jill. And Amanda
What they did to Fani Willis is ...so many adjectives,
but the hypocrisy and double standards when it comes to the behaviors of the men
lying and buying their way into power is somehow worse.
What they did to Fani Willis was obviously wrong. But I go another way about the hypocrisy and double standards when it comes to men: Ms. Willis got caught thinking with the female equivalent of the male small head, a problem men have had, and been caught having, pretty much forever (yes men have often escaped the consequences but nowhere near always). In this particular case I have no doubt that the result would have been the same if the genders of the principals had been reversed: the politics are exactly the same and it's the politics, not law, fairness or common sense that made this outcome inevitable.
“(yes men have often escaped the consequences but nowhere near always)”
Gee, does someone come to mind who escaped the consequences?”
STOP REFERRING TO MUSK AS A POLITICAL LEADER, HE WAS NOT ELECTED, APPOINTED, NOMINATED FOR ANYTHING! HE HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY, VALID PLACE DICTATING LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS. HE IS NOT IN GOVERNMENT! HE MUST BE PERMANENTLY REMOVED FROM TRYING TO INFLUENCE THE GOINGS ON AT CAPITOL HILL! TRYMP IS NOT YET PRESIDENT, HE HAS NO POWER. ALL OF THE CONGRESSIONAL PLAYERS IN THIS CLUSTER FUCK NEED TO TELL MUSK AND TRUMP TO FUCK OFF! YES, I AM YELLING!
While I understand your frustration with references we are hearing to Musk as a leader, or even "President Musk" - there is a purpose to it, which is to basically make fun of him and point out just how much he is not those things. It is sarcasm, and Hakeem Jeffries seems to have mastered the tactic well.
Hakeem Jeffries is fantastic.
So is Katharine Clark (and Leigh McGowan):
https://www.youtube.com/live/y69srbXAzBU?si=Nr1jY475ekXuLhe5
It also can help alienate Trumpfrom Musk, since Trump's fragile ego cannot withstand anyone upstaging him!
At the end of the day actions speak louder than words. Let’s see that!
I get it Susan, I do. However, it forces me to look at who will not give a shit, Musk. If the government shuts down today it matters not how we indulge ourselves in satirical finger pointing at him. I am afraid that I am still bitter about how feckless Dems are at getting what we need, while Republicans seem to do whatever it takes that moves their agenda forwards. Knife to a gunfight.
I would not say this was done just as satirical finger pointing to enjoy a joke. This was done to show Musk that he knows nothing about governing. It showed even 38 Republicans that Musk and Trump have no idea what they are doing. The Democrats brought this to the finish line and got a far better deal than the one Musk/Trump wanted. Trump wanted no debt ceiling, ordered it. He did not get it - his agenda failed. This is exactly what the Democrats wanted, which was a bi-partisan deal. The first one failed because of the Musk/Trump sideshow. The 2nd deal stuck and they won. One battle at a time, if they continue to stand up to Trump, we just might still have a country in 4 years.
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Elon Musk and SpaceX face at least three federal reviews over whether they have complied with federal reporting rules aimed at protecting national security, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
This is not the first time the security practices of the SpaceX founder have been questioned by the Pentagon.
The Times said the new reviews were initiated by the Air Force, the Defense Department's Inspector General and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. It cited eight people with knowledge of the rocket company and internal documents.
Neither the Times or Reuters reported that Federal government contractors are prohibited from making contributions or expenditures, or promising to make any such contribution or expenditure, to any political party, committee, or can didate for federal office, or to any person for any political purpose or use. https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/federal-government-contractors/#:~:text=Federal%20government%20contractors%20are%20prohibited,any%20political%20purpose%20or%20use.
Others are asking about the nature of Musk's relationship with China.
Musk may be vulnerable.
In September, DOJ asserted that Sergey Kiriyenko had created some 30 internet domains to spread Russian disinformation, including on Elon Musk’s X which was formerly known as Twitter. In October, the Wall Street Journal disclosed that Musk had been in contact with Kiriyenko and Vladimir Putin which Dmitry Peskov affirmed.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Kiriyenko
Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future, We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russias-prigozhin-admits-interfering-us-elections-2022-11-07/ What does Musk know and if he does know, when did he know it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2024_United_States_elections
Did Musk violate both state and federal election law? In Pa, the penalty can be 7 years in a workhouse.
Unfortunately for the US, Musk’s companies are far more capable than their competition; so ditching them is problematic.
How about a fire sale?
Agree with Susan and would add that the intent is to undermine and anger Trump. He is most definitely not the brains of the operation. Are people going to start talking about the diminution in his mental capacities at some point? Or is that well hidden and just attributed to his well-known crazy, mercurial actions?
Agree, but neither Trump nor Musk have the brains to actually govern - they never took governing 101.
Musk is a political leader to the extent he has political power. Power is not a matter of elections and offices. Musk has political power to the extent he has access to and credibility from the President Elect and more money than anyone else. There is no process to remove people from having influence except the power, resistance and commitment of those opposed plus the weaknesses of those trying to exercise that power. Whatever genius Musk may possess, it's not in the political sphere where he is a neophyte and if not an actual moron, something pretty close.
I have heard a lot about how Musk has gained his wealth, and if even part of those stories are true, I would say his genius is in taking advantage of people who started a business, or new technology, and leveraging his wealth to buy them out. His history says he never really was genius enough to create anything himself.
I've mentioned before that Musk seems to lose interest in his project of the moment when it reaches the point he no longer is able to manage it. He has done this repeatedly. At the chaos replication rate we are already at, I suspect he might reach that point rather sooner than later. I am looking for ways to help that happen.
Food for thought:
https://steveschmidt.substack.com/p/all-the-democracy-talk-is-marketing?r=ct95&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=audio-player
Yup.
My grim sense of satisfaction at the power meltdown in Congress is tempered by Amanda Gorman’s total lack of cynicism. Fani’s disqualification in the Georgia case is of course despicable. Somehow all of this turmoil fails to dim my hope in the future, and some of that hope, I am sure, is attributable to your tireless optimism, Robert. Thank you for keeping our spirits positive even in this dark season.
The reason Trump wants to raise the debt ceiling for so long now is so he can jack up our debt, like he did last time, by giving massive tax breaks to the rich, again. I am not a fan of the debt ceiling, but those tax breaks are tantamount to a person refusing income and saying that's okay - I'll just borrow it.
And then there is this lunacy: ""If we don't get it, then we're going to have a shutdown, but it'll be a Biden shutdown, because shutdowns only [injure] the person who's president," he told ABC News." I hope ABC pushed back on that ignorant statement - I had stepped away from the news this week.
Shut downs injure the country, and with him acting like he is already President, any part of this country with common sense knows he did this, and he is exacting what he thinks is petty revenge. He is showing his immaturity and likelihood of ruining the economy. As I retire at end of year, I need to watch my 401K closely.
Here's what Rick Wilson says, "Here’s a message for Democrats: you must, must, must brand this shutdown right now as the MAGA shutdown.
"This shutdown’s on the GOP’s doorstep—100%, no wiggle room, no excuses. I don’t care which scapegoat they try to trot out, the bottom line is this: the MAGA Republicans have proven, even before Donald Trump waltzes back into the Oval Office for a second term, that they are utterly unfit to manage a Waffle House, much less run a government."
Now, how do we make that happen, given that Musk controls X, there is a right-wing slant to most social media, and our "legacy media" are terrified of telling the truth if it annoys Trump?
Here we s Ron Filipkowski’s excellent piece on that:
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/the-one-big-reason-why-dems-are-losing
The reason Dems lose the propaganda wars is that professional Democrats (e.g. Democratic National Committee, Biden Administration spokespersons) have two metaphorical lead feet. I wonder where they get such people.
Thanks for this. This is so good! How do we influence our "leaders" to do this? And we must not cede whole categories ("wellness influencers," "tech podcasts," etc to the right wing, as we have done with rural voters.
ABC News push back???
Yeah, right what was I thinking? 😆
Hopefully you took some defensive action in light of Trump's re-election in terms of reducing the stock allocation. I retired in 2018 so I had arranged a bigger cash cushion than I might have otherwise under a Democratic administration and went to a more conservative allocation in my 401k.
I did the same.
I have kept a cash cushion, but my 401K was never going to be more than a small additional source of income. Under Biden, I invested back more in stocks as things looked better. I watch it closely and if the trend heads downward too far, then I make changes to allocation.
“ . . .those tax breaks are tantamount to a person refusing income and saying that's okay - I'll just borrow it.” That’s it, Susan Hall!
Just borrow from the serfs, so that the wealthy will not feel such a heavy burden.
"Republican justice" is to Actual Justice as "Military music" is to Actual Music.
or GOP Governance is to Demolition Derby
Robert, wow, nice. Ignatius Spirituality, which is the basis of how Jesuits live their faith (in large part), is defined in what you share. I have I introduced this to so many folks over the years.
Also thank you for sharing about Loudon Co VA phone banks. Earlier I was feeling a tad what am I going to do instead of illegally streaming Dune (new series on HBO). Find that phone bank that Thurs phone bank! And an incredibly diverse group of 30 folks by age and other background shared some space loving on the Leesburg area!
MAGAlomania is going to present us Information Warriors in MAGAstan and The NonVoterlands with many juicy opportunities. I would so like to sit down with some of you---in-person or Zoom--and brainstorm this project below.
Amid the talk about the left developing more media outlets--mostly digital I take it---how can we reach people who aren't politically involved, may not be computer-literate or fluent readers, or be likely to look even at PBS-level news, let alone pay for progressive writers?
Earlier eras' "broadside" papers included whole speeches reprinted, posted on public walls, but I propose 2-3 sentence max, with color or graphic, and not counting on strong reading skills or long attention span.
Pre-election, I started to make small stickers--graffiti or memes on various-sized mailing labels-- for posting where people pass or might wait and be bored: at gas pumps, street corner poles, bus benches, trashcan sides, near ATMs, at the DMV, even in bathroom stalls, etc. These Stickies, as I call them, can present a way to: methodically publicize achievements of the Biden administration as a baseline: to counter MAGA's Lie of the Day; to summarize various aspects of Project 2025; and to present ethical and moral questions without invectives. Longer things, like poems, could also draw the eye and provoke thought. Content could change as frequently as desired and could deliver a whole lot of civic literacy, one concise bite at a time. Each Stickie may well be seen only by a few random people. A small piece of paper stuck outdoors will shred, fade, be rained on, written on, ripped off, who knows? But they're cheap and easy to print and stick up, and replace
Here's a link to some examples:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ptnfrui8RHknRj4_gz3LET_JJnW0peix/view?usp=share_link
Sorry about the color; I will learn to fix. I don't know who made the 3 memes with graphics but want to thank them. Some photos show Stickies too distant to read -- just included to show a good site.
Please contact me at melodic.sonic.net. I'm really hoping to find collaborators.
This is an excellent idea! You need a PR or marketing professional to help. I’d suggest pithier 2 liners. If it’s not too late,
‘Thank you, Biden,
More jobs!
Or
Thank you, Biden,
Better roads & bridges!
Or
Thank you, unions,
Safer working conditions!
Good luck!
Peggy, I think your idea is timely, relevant, inclusive, low-cost, low-tech, easy to grasp and simple to implement. It invites creativity on the part of participants, and I believe it has the potential to catch on and go viral. It is a non-threatening way to reach out to the millions of low-information Trump voters (who are already feeling a growing sense of buyer's remorse) with some kernels of truth and logic that they can connect with and act on.
Just as importantly, though, it provides every dispirited and terrified progressive (like me) with a simple, yet very meaningful, activity that can make a tangible difference. Plus, it's low-risk - something that we can each engage in without having to personally interact with people in our target audience who might not yet be ready for one-on-one contact.
I think your idea has the potential to become the basic mechanism with which progressive activists can begin the process of connecting the dots for those who were mislead, lied to, and are already being ripped off by the Musk-dominated Republican oligarchy. Building a well informed and politically savvy electorate is the only way we'll be able to avoid America becoming a replica of Russia.
I tried clicking on the link you provided but was unable to connect.
Click again. I just looked at it and the examples are great. Good idea and worth pursuing.
I was able to look at the examples also by clicking on the 1st link, but clicking on the 2nd link (to contact Peggy directly) still results in an error message. I will try replacing a "period" in the 2nd link with an "@" to see if that works.
Good idea! Need some good 2-3 liners about how the govt works. Like, “did you know tariffs are why things cost so much?” “Is your elected official voting in your interest”? So so many possibilities here. I think framing these as questions gets people to be more open than declarative statements. It works that way for me, anyway.
The closing comments are again excellent and the piece on religious responsibility is worthwhile reading for anyone who considers themselves Christian, regardless of sectarian affiliation.
If there was any courage or self-confidence left in Congress they'd all say "Bring it on" to Musk's threat of primary opposition and pass the bipartisan bill while giving him the single finger salute. Fear remains a bully's only weapon and bending over doesn't make it stop.
Thr Catholic Church and Evangelical "Christians" get no respect from me. They treat women as second class citizens and walking incubators.
I don’t think these are the “evangelical” Christians, and many Catholics I know are pro-choice.
Yes. However the hierarchy and catholic supreme justices, Opus Dei have more control. I am very biased against religions so there's that, so my remarks contain that bias.
Nor do they get any from me as a general rule but that's not what the discussion was about. The point of the article is to contrast the expressed ideals of the organized "Christian" church with the behavior and actions of the elected politicians their members support and, hopefully, to get at least some of them to start thinking about it and withdraw that support.
Robert, thank you for framing the chaos of the past 24 hours with a sense of humor. Trump taking a lap around a buffet table seems about right.
Amanda Gorman’s eloquent new poem is one that I will read and reread. It seems the perfect way to spend a few contemplative moments on Inauguration Day when we will all need to draw strength for the days ahead.
What gifts Amanda and you are to us in this season of giving. Locking arms and hearts with this community, onward we go.
Robert, bountiful thanks for the excerpts from Valerie Schultz & Amanda Gorman. The bonus is your comment about Jill teaching Amanda's mother! We all are truly connected in so many ways!