Many years ago Donald Trump was quoted as being surprised at the gullibility of the American public. “They just believe you,” he said. Yes, they do. Long ago the newspaper and then later broadcast channels, when they rose to prominence, were considered authority figures. And certainly elected officials speaking on those channels were taken as seriously as a heart attack. And at one point in time that made a lot of sense. Edward R. Murrow broadcasting the horrors of WWII right from the center of a German blitzkreig over London, was certainly compelling broadcasting. No fake news there. But nowadays, nothing is sourced or proven. “News conferences,” at least at the White House, are extemporaneous chit chat sessions and virtually fact free.
Lawrence O’Donnell did quite the segment last night. It’s got a number of issues spliced together, all interrelated. The key takeaway here is two fold: 1. Musk is clearly running the show, and he’s not even bothering to disguise that fact nowadays; and 2. Everything that comes out of Musk’s mouth is unproven — and nobody calls him on it.
If there is one tragedy above all else taking place in American culture nowadays it is that the press is there for window dressing more than anything else. You read how the Associated Press has been banned from the White House briefing room because they won’t go along with Trump’s Gulf Of America gag. That’s just the beginning, it will get much worse. But listen to O’Donnell’s clip from last night in its entirety and get a picture of where we are, which is in fact-free, free fall. We all live in the Ministry of Truth and the Memory Hole is our constant companion.
Back in a normal world, we would have expected some actual identification of these individuals. Who is the 150-year-old collecting a Social Security check? Is there only one? Or, who is the woman who acquired a net worth of over $30 million on a government salary? And conceivably that could happen, if the person invested wisely, had a low overhead or perhaps no overhead for a period of years. There are a lot of variables.
But we get none of that information. Musk is lying through his teeth. And he’s very comfortable in doing so. That won’t change. And it’s virtually guaranteed that Musk’s position of power in government won’t change.
So where does that leave us? With the world working around us, and humoring Trump as the dementia patient that he is, that’s where. Nobody knows what’s going to really happen in Gaza but it’s an absolute that Trump isn’t going to magically relocate them all somewhere while he turns the place into a new Riviera.
This mis-administration is an embarrassment and it will only get worse. There is one certainty now: That what really happens and what is claimed will happen are two totally different things. It’s time to turn a deaf ear to what they say and simply watch what they do, because what they say is useless on a level never before seen. I think it may have been Jamie Raskin who coined the term “performative assholery.” That’s what you’re going to see publicly, while in the background the wheels of government will either be grinding, or they won’t. And for the first time in our history, unelected officials will be in charge.
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“And it’s virtually guaranteed that Musk’s position of power in government won’t change.”
Except he is NOT in the govt. He is a private citizen, nothing more, nothing less. No govt employee, no security clearance, nuthin’…
“performative assholery”
Yup, that’s all. Except for the devastation he is causing. But he is not doing it all by himself, and it’s not just his band of half a dozen hitler youth computer nerds. The whole RWNJ machine has been doing it for the past 40 years. Hillary was right.
It’s Trumpler’s dream job: he gets to be called president while not actually having to be one. He gets to cheat at golf and be onstage at hillbilly rallies instead of working. He gets to sign stacks of executive orders and have his minions carry them out, or not. He gets to lie through his pearly whites all the time and have other minions try to explain it. And when the economy crashes and his house of cards comes tumbling down, he gets to blame it all on Musk. Just beautiful.
One of these days, the way things are going, there will be another war on our home soil. The good news? There are 400 million guns on the streets thanks to the American Nazi Party…a.k.a., the gop. All their addresses are public record in case any patriots want to express their ‘opinion’. I’m curious…when did these nazis think a thousand dollar suit would stop a bullet? Are they going to John Wick’s tailor? Their arrogance and entitlement are poor defenses. Self importance didn’t save Hitler. Neither will it save them if things really go south. They believe they can destroy people without consequences. I disagree. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES is a real thing dumbasses.
Only way a federal.employee could amass $30 million over 40 years is as a super grade employee and those are mostly political.appointee, and those aren’t in office for more than 8 years. Fauci made $417K in 2022, but he’s an internist focsing on immunological.diseases, which means 4years of college plus 4 years of medical.school (with long hours of study and huge debt accrued,) plus residency. That means he has has 11 years before he made a half decent salary. Residents back.in his day worked 36-48 hour shifts regularly and made very little.
He made his money the hard way: he earned it. He worked at NIH for 50 years. I don’t begrudge him.that salary. Unlike Fat.Donnie he was working 18-20 hour days during Covid.