642 Comments
User's avatar
Clay Denton's avatar

Luna-Tick!

Expand full comment
Open Letters by Mersault's avatar

Dear Donald Trump, your malfeasance is no longer shocking, but it remains deeply revolting. You campaigned as a champion of the forgotten man, but your actions scream betrayal. You’re not a leader; you’re a masquerading fraud, content to bask in the reflected glow of Elon Musk’s wealth and influence while abandoning the very people who believed in you. You’ve traded your MAGA slogan for Make Elon Great Again, proving you care more about tweetable moments and your fragile ego than about governance or the lives of ordinary Americans.

••••

Elon Musk’s Puppet President: How Trump Became a Billionaire’s Marionette at America’s Expense

When a ruthless tech mogul pulls the strings and a so-called populist bows down, America spirals into chaos—leaving red-state voters to pay the price.

https://open.substack.com/pub/patricemersault/p/elon-musks-puppet-president-how-trump?r=4d7sow&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Expand full comment
Tessie's avatar

‘TRUMP,’” complete with scare quotes to indicate he considers himself only an ironic joke.

`

Why do the red hats always seem to think quotation marks denote emphasis? Do they even realize that it's a punctuation mark, or do think they're it's just some sort of miscellaneous "curly-wurlies"?

Expand full comment
Chris's avatar

Do these idiots know they're the government? They can pass an "Elon Musk Can Go Straight To Fucking Jail Act." Probably can't actually name it that, but surely not even the most MAGA idiot congressperson thinks that letting a billionaire dictate their actions is a good thing, right?

Expand full comment
Debra Rae Cohen's avatar

I don't mean to be picky--and I understand the point you were making--but please, no, NC is *not* a "Republican" state, but a perpetually embattled one that has been gerrymandered into a state of occupation.

Expand full comment
TexasCatHag's avatar

Sad, weak, spineless Dems will totally cave & give the thugs everything they want because.....decorum. Fascism is the price we will pay for them following the rules. Fuck 'em all.

Expand full comment
JustDontSayDittos's avatar

And yet, it seems they didn't cave. And Mikey had to make nice with Dems. How 'bout that?

Expand full comment
tehbaddr's avatar

Not Freedumb Caucus, PIG SHIT!

Expand full comment
Herr Snackmeier's avatar

Can't we go back to a simpler time when barking-mad billionaires' only forays into communications were 30-second, all-global break-ins to network TV, and only forays into politics were stealing thermonuclear devices and holding the free world at ransom?

Expand full comment
carovee's avatar

I'd much rather Musk put his time into blowing up the moon from a hollowed out volcanoe.

Expand full comment
Tessie's avatar

At least Dr. Evil ADMITS he's bald.

Expand full comment
clairence's avatar

is a volcanoe used for lava sports?

Expand full comment
Goin Green's avatar

Works better than a potatoe.

Expand full comment
Herr Snackmeier's avatar

With all his talk of democracy being "saved" by fascistic acts, it sure sounds like the South Korean president and Elonia share a speechwriter.

Expand full comment
Spotts1701's avatar

And now we're back to one bill, though it's not the bipartisan deal. It's basically everything from yesterday *except* the debt limit increase, smushed back together for one vote.

Expand full comment
carovee's avatar

So all of this was for nothing? Great job Republicans. Really nailing it right before the Holidays.

Expand full comment
clairence's avatar

It wasn't for nothing. It was to prove how good the Republicans are at negotiation and governance. I think it's done that.

Expand full comment
Mike Gesing's avatar

So, tRump is Elon's bottom - who knew? I'll be over by the fridge in case the Leopards need condiments.

Expand full comment
Smoke O'Possum's avatar

Email from Rep Pocan 5 minutes ago:

it's the oldest trick in the GOP playbook: spike the deficit, and then “pay” for it by cutting essential programs that millions of Americans rely on.

With a 2nd Donald Trump term looming, Republicans can barely contain their glee about extending the Trump tax cuts – which sent the deficit skyrocketing – to give a handout to the wealthiest Americans.

As for their plan to cover the “cost”? More and more are openly saying it involves cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Missouri Congressman Mark Alford said: “It’s going to mean cuts to the 24 percent of the discretionary spending that we have, and it’s also going to mean looking long-term at the front end of some programs like Social Security and Medicare.”

Georgia Congressman Richard McCormick said: “We’re gonna have to have some hard decisions. We’ve gotta bring in the Democrats and talk about Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare. There’s hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved, and we know how to do it.”

Utah Senator Mike Lee recently posted a long Twitter diatribe about how Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and potentially unconstitutional. Elon Musk – who perhaps has Donald Trump’s ear more than anyone else right now – approvingly reshared the thread.

So let’s be clear about what’s happening: Republicans are gearing up to use their newly-won trifecta to enrich their biggest donors, and then offset the cost by targeting Americans’ retirement.

The GOP and their corporate allies think they have a “mandate” to do whatever they want in 2025. But they’re in for a rude awakening. The American people value their right to retire with dignity above the whims of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and all other billionaires in the room making governing decisions

Expand full comment
VwllssWndr's avatar

"There’s hundreds of billions of dollars to be STOLEN, and we know how to do it.”

FTFY, asshole.

Expand full comment
Miss Grundy's avatar

These people need to face a Luigi when they get home to their districts--or at least a mob of their own constituents, who will beat the living shite out of them and anyone else who gets in the way of the drubbing that these Republican assholes deserve.

Expand full comment
Our_Man_In_Redneckistan's avatar

It’s unofficially out in the open: House Republican leadership is flogging a plan to push an orgy of spending through in 2025 and pay for it in 2026 by ending Social Security and Medicare through reconciliation. They’re as close as they’ve ever been to reversing the New Deal.

Expand full comment
Jackmom's avatar

This has been their goal since the New Deal. They are nothing if not persistent.

Expand full comment
Our_Man_In_Redneckistan's avatar

They have their orders.

Expand full comment
carovee's avatar

Good thing they are flogging this plan before Trump even takes office. Nobody likes their medicare or social security anyway. Especially not during high spending times like Christmas.

Expand full comment
Our_Man_In_Redneckistan's avatar

And giving us a year’s notice before the million pound shithammer comes down.

Expand full comment
SkeptiKC's avatar

This is going to get fucking ugly.

Expand full comment
Our_Man_In_Redneckistan's avatar

This *is* ugly, and it’s only the preamble.

Expand full comment
phantom_stranger's avatar

Maybe I'm watching more science documentaries because my brain needs a sanctuary of reason in this madhouse.

Expand full comment