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Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

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Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#551

Post by thrance »

popalchemist wrote: post #492
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #42

It's wild that a president can say, "I don't like Elon anymore, so out of retaliation, I'm canceling all his government contracts," and ~40% of the country doesn't see that as corruption in any way, shape, or form. Government contracts should not be based on whether or not the president likes the CEO, and the CEO says enough good things about the president. If you can cancel contacts not based on merit, then it shoul…

They see it as the guy on their side having more power, therefore they, by extension, have more power. Primate brain go brr.

More like fascist brain, those who haven't bought into the decades of propaganda recognize this benefits no one. Fascism is not a natural state of mind.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#552

Post by thrance »

amiga386 wrote: post #150
aisenik wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Musk is a known pedophile-accusation-maker and affiliated with the Epstein child rape organization through his Kung-Fu lessons with Ghislaine Maxwell. Prior supporters will be less reactive for the first reason and more likely to perceive the situations as unfounded petty accusations for the latter (the dissonance of both Trump and Musk being connected to child rape is resolved this way).

> Musk is a known pedophile-accusation-maker Laughably so. Musk: I can save those boys trapped in the cave! We can use this stupid submarine thing of mine. Hero: No need, I and my Navy SEAL cave-diving pals have got this. Musk: How dare you! You're a pedo. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44779998 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-50695593 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45418245

He was sued for that by the guy and won his trial by convincing the judge that "pedo" is actually common Afrikaner lingo, and it was a casual insult. This country is a joke.

Also doesn't remove the fact Trump was one of Epstein's closest friends, and everything points to him being involved in some way or the other in those affairs.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#554

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD »

wqaatwt wrote: post #475
pessimist wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Low-level corruption at the local/state level is related but its effects are different though. In fact even today low level corruption in the US is extremely low by global standards - you can't bribe your way to a drivers license openly, for example. I'm sure it happens but it's not common or openly boasted about (parts of CA or DC could be an exception). Here the corruption is openly displayed as a kind of peacock-t…

> you can't bribe your way to a drivers license openly No but when it comes to local government contracts, building permits and similar stuff its quite different. Also a lot of (what sane people would consider) corruption is legal and institutionalized. i.e. bribing politicians running for office is perfectly legal and entirely expected by all sides (that Americans are so open about this is quite unique).

I understand that US federal law makes it difficult for a politician to appropriate campaign donations and use them for personal expenses.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#555

Post by sirtaj »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #549
medler wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notion that this kind of politicization started in the 90s is fanciful revisionism. It wasn’t really a thing in the US until about 2017. The word it’s known by is Trumpism.

You can see the rise of left-wing identity politics by looking at term usage in the NY Times: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/06/th... It started before 2017. The right adopted identity politics as a response to the left doing so. Note that even NY Times word usage is a lagging indicator -- this is a case of prestige media picking up trends which originated on social media such as tumblr. Vox e…

Are you tracking actual identity politics or the term "identity politics"? Because the meaning of the term applies just as much to ending slavery, womens' suffrage and civil rights movements.

Otherwise, you might as well argue that fake news only existed from 2016 onwards, because that's when Google Trends says it did.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#556

Post by thrance »

Geee wrote: post #79
the_af wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. It's also wild that someone who was a major contributor to the election campaign and a major advisor to the president now declares "well, the president is a pedophile" and nobody bats an eye either. I mean, Musk supporters now have to believe Musk knowingly supported a pedophile but only turned against him after he had a falling out for unrelated reasons? In the eyes of his supporters, what does this say abou…

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…

Trump was Epstein's best friend according to the latter, in his conversations with the ghostwriter that would write his memoirs. There are videos of the two at 1990s parties, judging women and laughing together. Trump was also mentioned in Epstein's black book.

I feel like you downplay their relations with your "Trump had some relations with Epstein". There is definitely something fishy as to why they still haven't released the entirety of the files, and lie about having done so.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#557

Post by sirtaj »

slavik81 wrote: post #460
Waterluvian wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. Same in Canada. Nowhere is free from corruption, but the magnitude and danger of this problem is uniquely American.

I have lived in Alberta my entire life and that used to be true here. It's different now. There's blatant corruption from our provincial government in the news every few months, but it seems like that's just accepted now. Things are not trending in a good direction in Canada.

The far right pretty much across the world is learning just how fragile and consensus-based the institutions of democracy are all at once. They're watching and learning from each other. Hence you have people like Bannon involved in similar tricks in multiple countries.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#558

Post by thrance »

joshdavham wrote: post #494

Elon Musk has recently talked about forming a third party in the US. Does anyone have an idea of what such a party would look like? I imagine it would be significantly different than the Republican Party.

Pretty much the same garbage economic policies, concerning concentration of power and abhorrent hatred of minorities, with the difference that H1B visas are welcome.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#559

Post by thrance »

jmyeet wrote: post #18

It's wild to me how many conspiracy theories I've seen about how this is all staged, like it's a distraction or it's just Elon repairing his image and trying to rescue Tesla (whose sales are cratering). Psychologically, I think this is reflective of cognitive dissonance. The two conflicting ideas are that two people with much to lose would get in the dumbest fight imaginable and the myth of meritocracy [1]. You see,…

> Elon is absolutely on the spectrum. As such, he is a terrible room reader and I believe is deluded into thinking he has a loyal following.

Two things:

* Being on the spectrum doesn't make you completely clueless. Elon is also a drug addict, as was revealed recently to all that couldn't tell yet. And his unique position of "richest man ever" certainly must warp his self-image into a form of sociopathy.

* He does have a loyal following, looking at the braindead blue check marks approving of his every tweets. Although it's hard to say how many of them they really are, as they are extremely vocal.

Re: Musk-Trump dispute includes threats to SpaceX contracts

#560

Post by AlecSchueler »

steveBK123 wrote: post #57
roxolotl wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This crop of billionaires was created from a time when capital was ascendant and state power was on the decline. I think as a result they’ve come to believe that the state is mostly there for their benefit especially during Republican administrations.

I think it's also a mark of the self delusion some of these "Great Men" tend to have, before you even get into the surrounding yes-men & ketamine. Probably some sort of "well I am worth $400M, but if I can get that to $2M, I can do my Mars space colony with enough room for my harem, for sure". vs "Gee I have more money than one can ever spend and remain mortal.. I could go enjoy my life like Bezos before it all evapo…

The Bezod who sat next to him at the inauguration?
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