Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[PhaelixWW]

I'm not sure that he's nothing without Trump

Why the hell do people always ignore the qualifiers?

"Practically nothing, politically" is not the same thing as "absolutely nothing, whatsoever".

Musk is a tool. He has a use, and that use can be bent towards the political goal of others, but he's not and never will be an actual political power on his own. At best (worst?), he's an agent of chaos. And like most agents of chaos, he's only really effective when someone is holding his leash and uses him as a threat to keep others in line. He's a living embodiment of one of the RUD's for which he's infamous.

Ask yourself: if Musk and Trump have a falling out (which will almost certainly happens sooner or later), who will walk away being viewed as the "victor"?

[D Luniz]

Why the hell do people always ignore the qualifiers?

"Practically nothing, politically" is not the same thing as "absolutely nothing, whatsoever".

Musk is a tool. He has a use, and that use can be bent towards the political goal of others, but he's not and never will be an actual political power on his own. At best (worst?), he's an agent of chaos. And like most agents of chaos, he's only really effective when someone is holding his leash and uses him as a threat to keep others in line. He's a living embodiment of one of the RUD's for which he's infamous.

Ask yourself: if Musk and Trump have a falling out (which will almost certainly happens sooner or later), who will walk away being viewed as the "victor"?

I explained in the rest of that post why I think there is a significant chance in a Trump v musk fight, Musk could win
I didnt ignore your "practically nothing, politically" just cause I didnt retype your statement in full (plus, thats the point of quoting things), I just disagree with your assessment.

[Strange One]

Musk use to be a Democrat, the problem is the far left has hijacked the Democrat party which is why you're seeing a bunch of Democrats drop party or even switch to Republican. From a business standpoint it would be foolish for Musk to attack Trump because the Democrats are already trying to illegally sabotage Musk's businesses because they don't like his politics.

You're likely going to see more infighting of Democrats, you have Classic liberals fighting with the progressives to are swinging so far left they are making Democrats lose more elections. Some Democrats see the writing on the wall and know they need to go back to be more moderate but you have others who are doubling down on crazy. Republicans are going to continue to enjoy wins until Democrat leadership get it together and start squashing the far left activist in their party.

Trump isn't even in power yet and he's already racking up losses.

[PhaelixWW]

I explained in the rest of that post why I think there is a significant chance in a Trump v musk fight, Musk could win

Yeah, no. You're grossly exaggerating the effect that Musk's purchase of Twitter had on the election. You're also exaggerating the amount to which the effect of Twitter on the election was attributable to Musk vs. Trump.

Look, nobody's denying that Musk helped Trump win the election. But it's like crediting a 1% contribution for the whole win. Substitute another wallet for Musk and things would be similar, but substitute another candidate for Trump and it wouldn't. It's preposterous to think that MAGA would side with Musk over Trump.

The bad thing about this kind of demagogue idolatry is that it's very difficult to breach the wall of willful disinformation and reach the cultists. The good thing about it is that it's entirely built upon the foundation of a single cult leader, and as has been said here before, there is no vice cult leader.

MAGA cultists are primed to believe anything that Trump says. They'll believe in Musk only as long as Trump tells them to listen to him. Want proof? Look at any and all previous Trump inner-circle rejects who have been tossed by the wayside once their usefulness is gone. I'll remind you that a Mooch is now a unit of time measurement for a reason.

[Deus Mortis]

Citation needed for this fiction

In what way are they trying to sabotage his businesses? By requiring them to adhere to safety regulations? By not giving them subsidies that they no longer need?

The only thing I can think of that he could possibly be talking about is this:

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/1...pacex-00184408
Newsom on SpaceX rejection: ‘I’m with Elon’

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Gov. Gavin Newsom is backing Elon Musk in the billionaire’s dispute with a California agency that rejected a plan to increase SpaceX’s rocket launches off the Pacific coast.

“I’m with Elon,” Newsom, a Democrat, said in an interview late Thursday, after campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris in the battleground state of North Carolina. “I didn’t like that.”

Musk sued the California Coastal Commission on Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging it “engaged in naked political discrimination” when commissioners cited his support for former President Donald Trump in rejecting a Department of Defense proposal to expand the number of SpaceX launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

“Look, I’m not helping the legal case,” Newsom acknowledged. He added, “You can’t bring up that explicit level of politics.”

Newsom indicated he broadly agreed with the lawsuit and that the independent agency should have confined its debate to the merits of the permit rather than engage in a discussion of Musk’s political activities.

“These are friends of mine that said that,” said Newsom, who appoints some of the members. “These are good commissioners. But you got to call balls and strikes. And trust me, I’m not big on the Elon Musk bandwagon right now. So that’s me calling balls and strikes.”

[Cthulhu 2020]

You've never dealt with a dementia patient before, have you? Their emotions can swing quite wildly IF HE IS suffering from dementia.

I have worked in a memory care unit as well as I have a grandparent going through dementia right now. She needlessly blew up on kitchen and nursing staff the other night because she was denied being allowed to eat something she was allergic to. Then, she's STILL dwelling on it to this day because she keeps forgetting or cannot understand that she could not eat it because she's allergic too it and is still being a pain in the ass.

My grandma was a pretty normal and stable person before she started showing signs. Trump didn't have the benefit of being a normal and stable person prior to starting to show signs of dementia.

I have, actually. My ex whom I spent 5 years with did her master's thesis on a massive study about the families/relatives of dementia/alzheimer's patients. It's precisely because of how deeply I know how people perceive dementia patients that I know while Trump may have mood swings, nobody is going to take him seriously. We already know from his first term that his daily routine involved waking up at 10:30, going to an executive meeting... sometime around noon, paying attention for 10 minutes, playing on his phone for the other 1 hour and 50 minutes, then spending the rest of his day continuing to tweet furiously.

Elon Musk is going to be the one paying attention in meetings, Elon Musk is the one who's going to have his grubby fingers in every single branch of government, pushing his thumbs on the political scale. Nobody is going to take Trump seriously because Trump never does any serious work. He's a mouthpiece, a glorified mascot. Trump was mostly harmless in his first term precisely because of this. All of his advisors and cabinet were Republicans who never really humored his impulses.

Trump overall is mostly harmless himself, he simply enables his followers to be openly bigoted. Elon Musk is actually dangerous and is pushing/funding far right/nazi initiatives in the USA and Europe.

[Kaleredar]

I have, actually. My ex whom I spent 5 years with did her master's thesis on a massive study about the families/relatives of dementia/alzheimer's patients. It's precisely because of how deeply I know how people perceive dementia patients that I know while Trump may have mood swings, nobody is going to take him seriously. We already know from his first term that his daily routine involved waking up at 10:30, going to an executive meeting... sometime around noon, paying attention for 10 minutes, playing on his phone for the other 1 hour and 50 minutes, then spending the rest of his day continuing to tweet furiously.

Elon Musk is going to be the one paying attention in meetings, Elon Musk is the one who's going to have his grubby fingers in every single branch of government, pushing his thumbs on the political scale. Nobody is going to take Trump seriously because Trump never does any serious work. He's a mouthpiece, a glorified mascot. Trump was mostly harmless in his first term precisely because of this. All of his advisors and cabinet were Republicans who never really humored his impulses.

Trump overall is mostly harmless himself, he simply enables his followers to be openly bigoted. Elon Musk is actually dangerous and is pushing/funding far right/nazi initiatives in the USA and Europe.

Who says musk is going to be on any of these meetings?

Musk wasn’t elected to any position. He can’t be appointed to any official cabinet position.

Musk’s capacity is simply one of threatening that other people do what he wants for fear of primarying them. He has no actual power beyond that.

[Templar 331]

Musk’s capacity is simply one of threatening that other people do what he wants for fear of primarying them. He has no actual power beyond that.

That alone should get him kicked out of the country. But like with Trump the Republicans are just going to appease this toddler and use his bullshit until it blows up in all of our faces.

[Poopymonster]

That alone should get him kicked out of the country. But like with Trump the Republicans are just going to appease this toddler and use his bullshit until it blows up in all of our faces.

Of course they'll put up with him. He has money. Money they want. He has to know what he's doing. He has money.

[En Sabah Nur]

Donald Trump Appoints Mark Burnett As Special Envoy To The United Kingdom

Y'all ever watch The Apprentice? Then you might actually know who this guy is!

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Mark Burnett, who produced Trump’s reality show The Apprentice, as special envoy to the United Kingdom.

“It is my great honor to appoint Mark Burnett as the Special Envoy to the United Kingdom,” Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social. “With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role.”

Burnett said in a statement, “I am truly honored to serve The United States of America and President Trump as his Special Envoy to the United Kingdom.”

In his announcement, Trump credited Burnett with “creating and producing some of the biggest shows in television history, citing Survivor, Shark Tank, The Voice and The Apprentice. Trump also cited Burnett’s role as the former chairman of MGM and as the winner of 13 Emmys.

And people dare to say none of these appointments are qualified!

[fwc577]

I have, actually. My ex whom I spent 5 years with did her master's thesis on a massive study about the families/relatives of dementia/alzheimer's patients.

Ok, so you know someone who studied dementia as a disbility.

Maybe you have some fucking difficulty with reading comprehension however, because I specifically fucking said,

You've never dealt with a dementia patient before, have you?

As someone who has had multiple family members go through dementia diagnosis and end up eventually in advanced care, please, take your 2nd hand research paper and shove it firmly up your ass.


- - - Updated - - -

Shit, I mean, how ridiculous.

You've never dealt with a dementia patient before, have you?

I slept with someone who once wrote a paper on dementia...

Like, if I gained knowledge from every ho that gave me head like I was the Highlander or something, I'd be the smartest man alive.

[En Sabah Nur]

I cannot imagine any other president having to say things like this.

Trump: [Elon Musk] is not going to be president. That I can tell you. I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country

The fact he says "I'm safe" means he believes there is a possible threat in the first place, imo. What a weak president.

[Rasulis]

What made it and did not make it into the new bill.

Made it.

Disaster funding + more.

Farm aid.

Baltimore bridge funding.

Telehealth funding for Medicare. (None of our doctors like this btw)

Did not make it.

Debt ceiling extension that Trump wanted.

Reforms for pharmacy benefit managers. (Unfortunate.)

Control over RFK stadium. (Not about funding. Simply control over the land.)

Pay raises for lawmakers. (I am okay with the pay raise. They have not gotten one since 2009.)

Provision that would have limited US investments in China, particularly in the technology sector. (Musk has rapidly growing investment in China and relationship with the government. This makes sense.)

Criminalizing revenge porn. (Why take this out?)

Funding for pediatric cancer research. (Why? Why? Why?)

Reimbursement for low-income Americans who had their food stamp benefits stolen. Primarily through skimming.

[Poopymonster]

Did not make it.

Debt ceiling extension that Trump wanted.

Reforms for pharmacy benefit managers. (Unfortunate.)

Control over RFK stadium. (Not about funding. Simply control over the land.)

Pay raises for lawmakers. (I am okay with the pay raise. They have not gotten one since 2009.)

Provision that would have limited US investments in China, particularly in the technology sector. (Musk has rapidly growing investment in China and relationship with the government. This makes sense.)

Criminalizing revenge porn. (Why take this out?)
Why would you leave in something that will hurt your own party?

Funding for pediatric cancer research. (Why? Why? Why?)

Reimbursement for low-income Americans who had their food stamp benefits stolen. Primarily through skimming.

In order:
Because they'd have to reinstate it if the Democrats ever get in power again.
Do you want to make millions of middlemen who serve no purpose but to raise prices on medications unemployed you fucking monster?
I got nuttin.
Last federal minimum wage raise was that same year. Guess who needs it more?
Elonald is fuming over this, fuck em.
Those kids won't become wage slaves, so fuck em.
They'll stop that theft via cutting benefits. They can't steal what you don't have.

[DarkTZeratul]

The funding for pediatric cancer research, at least, immediately got passed as a separate bill.

[PhaelixWW]

The funding for pediatric cancer research, at least, immediately got passed as a separate bill.

I believe it's only passed the Senate, not the House.

[Kaleredar]

I believe it's only passed the Senate, not the House.

Musk is really gonna set his outlook poorly if he starts driving a hard line on pressuring house republicans to oppose helping children with cancer

[Captain N]

Musk is really gonna set his outlook poorly if he starts driving a hard line on pressuring house republicans to oppose helping children with cancer

Nah Republicans will just say that they're going to consider school shootings as a cancer treatment. Dead kids have never stopped Republicans from being shitty people.

[diller]

War with Panama soon?

President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.

[Edge-]

War with Panama soon?

I read this to the sound of an old timey newsreel announcer at the cinema.