Earlier quoted context omitted.
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That's naive and you know it. A massive drive for him was electing the first black president. A less, but still not-insignificant drive was for Hillary as the first female president.
Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
211–220 of 799 posts
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the positive side, Trump is so unstable that he'll trash your business one day and then the next day he'll reverse course. So, "if people kiss your ass enough, they get contract" does not seem to be a long-term viable strategy. (Exhibit A: Musk.) I'm 90% sure it will lead to America's ruin, but it might not quite be the same path that led the USSR to ruin. Hey, at least it looks more entertaining! :/
> but it might not quite be the same path that led the USSR to ruin. The end of the Soviet Union as a political and geographic entity was not its ruin. What ruined it and opened the door for a strongman ruler was: a) an inexperienced President (Yeltsin) who lacked a unifying vision for the newly formed republic and wasn't respected by its business elite or by foreign leaders b) the 'free market liberalization' reform…
> an inexperienced President (Yeltsin) who lacked a unifying vision for the newly formed republic and wasn't respected by its business elite or by foreign leaders
Probably can't mention Yeltsin in the context of strongmen without mentioning the shelling of the parliament building.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Russian_constitutional_cr...
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Obama taught constitutional law and served in the state and US Senate before running for president. He was [not] some unqualified hack thrust into power because they needed a person of a different race in power. Obama's campaign was far less about race than Trump's campaigns in 2016 and 2024. Unless you can't hear the dog whistles.
Can you clarify what Trump's 2016 had to do with race
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
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That's naive and you know it. A massive drive for him was electing the first black president. A less, but still not-insignificant drive was for Hillary as the first female president.
I’d be shocked if Hilary had a net benefit being a female candidate. We’ve had 2 chances to elect a female president and they both lost the general election with not that great turnout.
John McCain’s VP was female during 08 and he lost by a huge margin.
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
SpaceX is critical infrastructure to the US at this point and its continued availability and operation is of national security interest. That may sound like it gives Elon power. It's the opposite, actually. No US administration will take lightly threats to national security infrastructure like this. The nuclear option for any administration is to nationalize SpaceX, which they absolutely could do. Less nuclear: the U…
If it’s critical infrastructure it should be nationalized
This is a very anti-USA way of thinking because it doesn’t allow companies to extract profit.
Healthcare, education, roads, prisons, electricity, transit, all of it is designed in the USA so a company can extract profit.
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#216Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow, that is some amazing threading of the mental needle to focus blame on Musk. Doesn't this indictment apply to every single person who voted for Trump in 2024? Those pictures of Epstein, Trump, and Maxwell having themselves some grand old times have been popularly circulating for like a decade at this point. If the indictment doesn't apply, then why can't Musk play the same card of "I didn't know/believe/accept" w…
Why wouldn't I heap blame on Musk (as well as on Trump, mind you)? The guy's deranged and repulsive. I don't think your objections are fair. Let's go over them: The average Trump voter doesn't know much about Epstein, and certainly doesn't believe Trump was involved in anything with that scandal. Any evidence that may turn up would be considered "fake news" to them. Whatever you may think of Trump voters, and whateve…
IME Trump supporters will justify anything he does or may plausibly have done. They're too invested in him or have bought into the idea that the other must be so much worse.
Elon stans seem to have a similar mindset.
Getting folks to think critically about Elon's actions would require an Epstein video of Trump engaging in SA with a clearly underage child. Likely only if coming out of police evidence lockers sealed before AI video existed. And it would have to be reported widely and maybe even released publicly without cuts (only blurring).
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
He supposedly learned it after the fact. Also, he didn't say that, although he surely implied that. However, he only said that Trump is in the "files", which has actually been public information for a long time. It's known that Trump had some relations with Epstein, but there's no evidence he went to the island or did something wrong. It's quite obvious that Elon knows that Trump is not on the actual "list", i.e. the…
> He supposedly learned it after the fact. When exactly? He was friends with Trump and working in his administration until a few weeks ago (they hugged in his going away ceremony), and he broke up for reasons explicitly not about any pedophile rings. So to lob this accusation now doesn't seem like it's because he just learned of it. I don't know what Musk really believes. The guy behaves like a mentally unstable pers…
I think having 400 billion dollars earns a person a measure of resp- well, whatever Trump is capable of that would equate to respect
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
Obama taught constitutional law and served in the state and US Senate before running for president. He was [not] some unqualified hack thrust into power because they needed a person of a different race in power. Obama's campaign was far less about race than Trump's campaigns in 2016 and 2024. Unless you can't hear the dog whistles.
Can you clarify what Trump's 2016 had to do with race
The resentment of a chunk of white Americans who for some reason did not like having a black president.
Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
The world is no longer a serious place. Everybody is turbo-infantilised via social media. I don't know if that's indeed the root cause or if it's a combination of factors, but the fact remains that people don't even feel the need to _ pretend to care _ about honesty, character, seriousness, etc.
This kind of stuff would not fly in Australia. Not to say that there is no corruption, but that it isn’t absolutely blatant and ignored.
Yeah. Same in Canada. Nowhere is free from corruption, but the magnitude and danger of this problem is uniquely American.