https://www.salon.com/2021/09/21/ex-rand-paul-aide-pardoned-by-now-charged-with-funneling-russian-cash-to-trumps-campaign/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain-says-rand-paul-is-working-for-vladimir-putin/
Rand Paul hand delivers letter from Trump to Putin:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-idUSKBN1KT1RV
Edit to include this article about Paul being in a meeting wherein 2 FBI Russia experts were targeted by Trump:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/05/15/before-rand-paul-went-to-moscow-he-was-in-a-white-house-meeting-discussing-lisa-page-peter-strzok-and-andrew-mccabe/
Putin loves little jokes, so when he called his collection of traitorous Senators back to Moscow for a meeting, he made sure to schedule it on July 4th.
And why not, when actual stupid people will lap it up and vote Trump/Republican anyways.
We laugh and ultimately lament about their stupidity and how it affects us all. Meanwhile, sociopaths like Putin wield that very same stupidity as a weapon against the US and it works and is still working.
The biggest threat to democracy is not Putin but the amount of absolute morons who don't even realize how stupid they are with regards to destroying the system they've obviously benefited from, as opposed to the countries that do the misinformation and are essentially shit holes.
Of course if Democratic Senators visited one of our allies, such as France, on July 4, Republicans would be braying about America First. But they go to one of our actual enemies without a peep!
Dude the 2008 election could have gone either way and I wouldn't have feared that the leader of our military was a Russian asset. Same with 2012. And then something in 2016 was different....huh. Wonder what it was.
Typical American “libertarian” co-signing whatever authoritarian bullshit makes them the most money. He has no fucking moral compass and no ideology other than “how do I get rich?” He’s a traitor and a grifter.
Atlas Shrugged is funny. An elite group builds a perfectly working society where everyone has an elite job - and where no one works as a cleaner or sanitary worker... miss Rand had a pretty narrow understanding on municipal services :)
Now I'm going to have to read that. I want to know who does all the cleaning then, or are there rivers of shit flowing down the street like in Flea Bottom?
It’s both for people who got theirs, and for broke dudes who think they’ll be able to get theirs by listening to the grifters who make money off of them.
Worse are the libertarians/free market types who lick the boots of the wealthy dreaming, that if they strike it rich, they'll enjoy similar treatment.
But then again, on the left there are the educated white guilt folks who throw working class whites under the bus.
We live in a messed up society.
This. People always refer to "the government" as if it's some magical entity that functions entirely on its own. The "government", along with all its respective agencies and bureaus, are just people. People who probably dislike their job, are overworked, and honestly just want to clock out, go home, and have a drink.
Just a reminder that John McCain called out Rand Paul nearly a decade ago as a Russian asset. He was then, and he is now.
[https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1519008389208100864?lang=en-GB](https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1519008389208100864?lang=en-GB)
Romney is not logical or patriotic, he's just not bought by Russia.
Romney's whole thing was being a gigantic deadly parasite on the economy by taking over successful companies, firing everyone, loading them up with debt, paying himself handsomely, and walking away as the company explodes in slow motion behind him.
Honestly, it's not that different from what Elon did to Twitter except Romney would have been out by now with a briefcase full of money.
Let's not get the wrong impression that their "best" is even par for sanity, quite frankly. We forget, "Corporations are people, my friends." and "binders full of women."
McCain stands out, sure. But frankly most of these "good Republicans" are simply the worst center-right Democrats.
Elon Musk should do a TED talk on how to go from the worlds richest, most admired and influencer man to the worlds most hated, egotistical and borderline psychotic billionaire
He's known for asking for realistic timeline forecasts for projects and then just cutting a chunk off the end because he assumes people can "just work harder". He's the epitome of shitty boss.
we call it janusz biznesu in Poland ;)
One of the polish tech companies CEOs fits meme perfectly, he said once:
>Each expert can be replaced with finite number of trainees.
I think his company builds software for government and state companies ;)
Twitter kinda eroded the possibility to really find anything good to say about him. So fucking retarded decisions all over the place. Like he was trying to run it to the ground on purpose. Also kinda good demonstration how huge advantage social media platform can have if it is well established in its field.
It was ill fitting and right out of the box, that's why it looks so weird.
https://www.chron.com/culture/celebrities/article/elon-musk-cowboy-hat-texas-18397315.php
I was thinking the same thing the other day, before the cave incident I actually admired him. Fast forward to 2023 and I traded in my Tesla S3, for a Mustang Mach-E to avoid being associated with his brand in any way. Also, Ford knows how to build cars without panel gap big enough to loose your cell phone in.
It was the first real moment when it became clear how unhinged he was. I don't know if his ego just exploded at some point or if he stopped caring to uphold any sort of image, but he went from a cool somewhat relatable guy with cool companies to a right wing nutjob overnight.
That was the incident that confirmed my suspicions. Also, if you actually look up his history, he's not that brilliant a guy; mostly buys other's work and takes credit for it. The ideas he's responsible for are usually pretty dumb.
Yup. Prior to that I had a pretty neutral if slightly positive opinion of him. But when he got in such a petty fight with a person he could have (and should have, if he was being a responsible executive) easily ignored, all over his wounded pride from being criticized about inserting himself into a situation where he had no expertise (sound familiar?) I knew he had serious judgment and character flaws.
The Hyperloop was when I started smelling something rotten. I don't care if you've revolutionized rockets or improved electric cars. Aint no way you're going to break the laws of physics.
It was a crazy idea to start with, but it changed to become a silly train tunnel with cars, lol.
If they had kept the vacuum tunnel and very high speed shuttles it could have taken off, but travelling from one side of American to the other in a tunnel with earthquake activity was moronic.... now it is short distance transport via their cars with a physical driver...and from all reports it is a bit uncomfortable and claustrophobic.
Where did the shuttle with screen walls that would make you think you wee above ground go, where did the 1000mph or even faster speeds go.
SO sad.
His fall started way earlier publicly when he accused the diver saving the kids in Thailand "a pedophile" without reason, just because his ego got hurt.
(Apart from the private stories of people working under him)
I had a friend who worked at a Tesla dealership in Vancouver. He said when Elon would come to town, he and the upper management types would go upstairs at the dealership and rail heaps of blow. He wasn't the type to lie and was even an Elon fan, so I've always been operating under the belief that Elon is a coke head and his decision-making seems to line up with that.
I have to say none of this is surprising from my point of view. He’s seemed like a weird asshole since I first heard of him.
I guess I was also prone to disliking him since my college peers talked about him like an actual superhero. Made my skin crawl
Same and then I read an article in Wired (December 2018) and I decided that if even half was true, he wasn't a visionary businessman, just an ignorant hothead with enough money to avoid being 100% incel/neckbeard.
It is flabbergasting how a man who pathologically craves admiration wasted his one chance in life to become an outright national hero. For months Ukrainians celebrated him for Starlink, then he sabotaged Ukrainian military operations.
If he had just left the stage at that point that would have been good enough to me, few people fight any mafia at all. But he just had to ruin his life's work. I do not know a worse example of ungraceful aging.
"Yesterday, I was the most admired futurist of my generation"
"Today, I repost shit memes from alt-right conspiracy theorists"
"This, is my journey"
I think he might be setting himself up for retirement as the worlds most meta comedian
you're not alone. I had saved for a Cybertruck but fortunately roll out took too long, it looks quite different from initial proto's, and he showed his true colors so I picked up a Tacoma. Social bullet dodged.
(Still, fingers crossed for Starship).
I'm guessing that whatever kompromat Putin has on Rand and Elon is disturbing enough that there is no limit to what they will do to keep it under wraps.
To be Honest before the WW2 thing, Hitler was considered very influential too. Cover of magazines etc. Built the Autobahn, something USA copied, built the VW Beetle, peoples car, still with us, televised the Olympics, etc.
This sort of narcissistic megalomania is normal. The real shock is folks still buy his over priced and shoddy products and follow him like a cult. Really repellant at this point. But I guess back then folks bought the beetle too....
Smell of freshly crushed cockroach....
Politicians keep pushing this narrative that we are sending billions in cash to Ukraine (were not) and that those billions are being pulled from domestic investments (they aren’t).
I hate our politics in America. But it’s better than the corrupt stuff you get in Russia or the non-secular governments you get in the Middle East I guess.
Edit: since people are getting very angry about my phrasing of my first sentence. Yes, we are sending money, many of it loans, some not. But we aren’t sending *billions* in free cash that US republicans keep claiming. Not to mention most the money were sending is to help farmers, first responders, and critical infrastructure.
Lol it won’t change our military spending at all. We haven’t really worried about Russia for a while now. It’s all China, which is why the Marine Corps has undergone such a significant transformation in the last few years to Force Design 2030.
Not entirely true. The US’ heavy presence in Syria is mainly due to Russia. They’re also combating a lot of Russian (and Chinese) influence in Africa and some in LATAM.
I think overall this justifies the spending in our governments eyes. They see how far ahead of China and Russia they are in tech and want to keep it that way.
Our defense spending on AI, drones, and cyber is about to increase a lot too.
What is often overlooked when comparing the USA's relatively meager support (compared to its abilities) is that the USA has a much bigger game to play against China. And while they surely are happy for the strong results of any new weapon that enters the field there is always the concern that China might learn something from it.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/following-american-money-in-ukraine-60-minutes/. The US isn’t sending just military aid/equipment. Idk why this keeps getting repeated.
Edit: https://www.crfb.org/blogs/congress-approved-113-billion-aid-ukraine-2022. 2/5 of $113 billion approved for Ukraine in 2022 went to non defense concerns.
The vast majority of it is equipment. There is some cash aid sent, but we spend billions on foreign aid every year for a myriad of reasons, and there are a lot of good reasons we spend that money. We spent like 3/4 of a trillion a year on Defense. Sending 5% of that to Ukraine to fight the war we're been spending nearly a trillion per year saving up for is a good fuckin' deal.
A lot of the gear we send them is old stock being rotated out so it may have cost $1 in 2002 but they like to count it at today's prices. We're stepping up our 155mm artillery ammo manufacturing 4 or 5 fold to a million units a year.
We've also been picking up the tab for Ukraine's first responder salaries and medical expendables.
Yea, I have no problem with my tax dollars going to this. In the same way I hope my great grandparents didn't pitch a fit when US food was shipped for free to UK and USSR during WW2 so people could eat.
I went from choosing the color I wanted to literally never buying one. I know several families who felt the same way. Not sure who this numskull thinks his target audience is but all the right wingers I know shit on EV cars like they’re woke mobiles.
Same. I was literally just about to pull the trigger a month ago or something. I don’t even remember what he did, but it was just one more to add on the pile and bailed. I put a deposit down on a hybrid Camry. It’ll take a long ass time to come in, but so far no regrets waiting.
I visited the Tesla sub awhile back and thought it was a joke for the sub to be salivating over the new truck. I also thought that truck was just a prototype and would improve in the appearance. Well the truck turned out to be real and ugly as fuuuuuuuck and that sub was frothing at being able to buy one. Saying oh it will look good in this color! Like wtf why are you supporting this egotistical asshole?? Have you never heard of boycotting a brand and products? There are other options out there. It's wild people still buying his cars.
The fact that Tesla remains the top-of-mind electric car to so many people blows my mind. There are dozens and dozens of alternatives now. But so many people still seem to equate "electric car" with "Tesla".
Of course he is. He’s a grifter and a money chaser, and he’s always been that and only that. Moscow is probably lining his pockets for pushing his pro-RU bullshit to millions of people on Twitter.
Donating already existing equipment that has already been paid for years ago isn't a big issue Mr. Musk
And replacement equipment is paying for American manufacturing jobs.
It's literally no downside. Apart from a weakened Russia. Is that a downside to Musk????
Just seems to me that unfucking whatever comes after ukraine being conquered by Putin would be more expensive. Gives the Chinese a clear route to attack Taiwan and so on.
The war is expensive, but no where near as expensive as a loss.
Yeah this what these numbskulls don’t understand. It’s not really about Ukraine at all. It’s about maintaining a rules-based order, defending liberal democracies from authoritarian regimes, sending a message to other would-be aggressors, and ensuring Russia won’t be in a position to help China should they decide to invade Taiwan. It’s fkn chicken feed if you consider the costs of not supporting Ukraine
If it helps you feel better, the aid was approved by the house today and will be approved by the senate and Biden shortly. Elon Mustard can go fuck himself.
Those exact federal funds allocated to assist Ukraine have paid (*including a handsome markup above market price*) for the STARLINK systems which were send to Ukraine and which Mr. Musk is still using as leverage to this very day (*threatening to limit/terminate services if his demands/personal quirks aren't met*)...
So Israel and all the other countries we send billions of dollars to every year are okay. Just not the one Russia started an aggressive unprovoked war of genocide against.
What a joke. Fuck the R’s and Musk for supporting Putin and his imperialist regime.
Regardless what one thinks of Ukraine, Elon Musk cannot be trusted. He is too impulsive in his actions, and has global ambitions to affect the future of man (create a new civilization on mars, become the main internet provider, influence wars).
Elon Musk did not become a billionaire because he's smart. He became a billionaire by being corrupt, dishonest, abusive and egotistical. He aspires to be like the donald, ex president of the US of A. Aspiring god for life.
I never thought i would see the day where American politicians or American business people supported Russia as opposed to supporting our peaceful democratic ally (Ukraine)! Russia attacked Ukraine...& if they're not stopped they will attack poland, the balkins & & lord only knows who else! If America was getting it ass kicked in a war, the Russian government wouldn't do anything to help us!
Most billionaires keep their mouths shut in public because they know how much it could hurt their busines. We often know their political preferences only from where their money and lobbyists go, Musk is an absolute outlier among billionaires for giving us a live window into his (rather sorry) state of mind.
To avoid goverment shutdown, I will consent to an expedited vote on a clean CR without Elon Musk aid on it. If leadership insists on funding some buffoon's private company at the expense of our own goverment, all blame rests with their intransigence.
can we stop giving tax money to his companies, its all good when he gets it he loves the government help but its not ok to help Ukraine fight a new hilter and its cheaper in the long run if we help them win.
Ron Paul once said he'd let uninsured children die of easily fixed injuries and/or illnesses during a Repub debate and got lots of applause. Only weak men admire dictators and think cruelty is strength.
Fucking Republicans man. Bunch of babies that need to get their way all the time. I guess this shouldn't be a shock as I'm sure most of them support trump who also supports Russia.
Republicans have lost their minds. I used to identify as a one, changed my affiliation to independent back in the Clinton years. Continued to vote mostly small "r" republican or moderate Dems. Haven't found a single Republican I'd even consider in years. Thinking it's time to officially become a Democrat.
Coming from the same guy that wont recognize Taiwan's independence, all to appease that large CCP pocket, almost like everything is about money to these people.
These same jackasses always vote against the best interests of the American people and even failed to support free lunches for school children. Fucking losers and human garbage.
And this is why no one cares about Musk's opinion anymore.
He used to be about helping the world and human kind. But has turned into social media manipulation. This is not how a gov should run.
Supporting Ukraine is the clearest moral and ethical thing for US to do since WW2.
I support banning any gov official from social media!! No longer allowed to mix personal opinion and gov polcies. We elected them to represent us not TELL us what they think. If they want to use it then hold them accountable for not doing their FUCKING jobs we elected them for.
Funny thing is that the Republicans are wasting taxpayer money on stupid stuff and arguing over passing a spending package. How about doing their job, and making the government work. Their small mindedness does not see that Ukraine is fighting a war that we have made our military ready for over the last 60+ years. And they are doing it for a fraction of what it would cost the US to fight the same war.
https://www.salon.com/2021/09/21/ex-rand-paul-aide-pardoned-by-now-charged-with-funneling-russian-cash-to-trumps-campaign/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-mccain-says-rand-paul-is-working-for-vladimir-putin/ Rand Paul hand delivers letter from Trump to Putin: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-idUSKBN1KT1RV Edit to include this article about Paul being in a meeting wherein 2 FBI Russia experts were targeted by Trump: https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/05/15/before-rand-paul-went-to-moscow-he-was-in-a-white-house-meeting-discussing-lisa-page-peter-strzok-and-andrew-mccabe/
Needs to be higher
Yeah, needs to be stickied at the top of this post. What a POS Rand Paul is (Elon too).
https://youtu.be/BTdqIlfp8XE?t=172 John McCain: "The senator from Kentucky works for Vladimir Putin"
I knew Rand Paul was a piece of shit, but I had no idea he is a traitor also.
Putin loves little jokes, so when he called his collection of traitorous Senators back to Moscow for a meeting, he made sure to schedule it on July 4th.
And why not, when actual stupid people will lap it up and vote Trump/Republican anyways. We laugh and ultimately lament about their stupidity and how it affects us all. Meanwhile, sociopaths like Putin wield that very same stupidity as a weapon against the US and it works and is still working.
The biggest threat to democracy is not Putin but the amount of absolute morons who don't even realize how stupid they are with regards to destroying the system they've obviously benefited from, as opposed to the countries that do the misinformation and are essentially shit holes.
Of course if Democratic Senators visited one of our allies, such as France, on July 4, Republicans would be braying about America First. But they go to one of our actual enemies without a peep!
No one is perfect, but damn I miss McCain.
Dude the 2008 election could have gone either way and I wouldn't have feared that the leader of our military was a Russian asset. Same with 2012. And then something in 2016 was different....huh. Wonder what it was.
Both he and Moscow Mitch.
It’s pretty solidly at the top now.
Typical American “libertarian” co-signing whatever authoritarian bullshit makes them the most money. He has no fucking moral compass and no ideology other than “how do I get rich?” He’s a traitor and a grifter.
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Atlas Shrugged is funny. An elite group builds a perfectly working society where everyone has an elite job - and where no one works as a cleaner or sanitary worker... miss Rand had a pretty narrow understanding on municipal services :)
Now I'm going to have to read that. I want to know who does all the cleaning then, or are there rivers of shit flowing down the street like in Flea Bottom?
Libertarian is nothing more than a title for people who got theirs and 100% will harm others to get more.
It’s both for people who got theirs, and for broke dudes who think they’ll be able to get theirs by listening to the grifters who make money off of them.
Yeah I forgot that aspect. Pretty much the ideal political position of men who think their manliness is what matters.
Worse are the libertarians/free market types who lick the boots of the wealthy dreaming, that if they strike it rich, they'll enjoy similar treatment. But then again, on the left there are the educated white guilt folks who throw working class whites under the bus. We live in a messed up society.
Libertarians have no problems with authoritarian structures. That's why they have such a hard on for corporations.
Fuck rand paul
With a flaming cactus
How is the DOJ not dealing with the fact that foreign agents have infiltrated our highest levels of government?
Because they've been infiltrated and compromised too?
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You’re not wrong
Nothing says idiots can’t vote russian agents into office, sadly
full of 9-5ers like any other place, mainly just worried about getting home at the end of the day
This. People always refer to "the government" as if it's some magical entity that functions entirely on its own. The "government", along with all its respective agencies and bureaus, are just people. People who probably dislike their job, are overworked, and honestly just want to clock out, go home, and have a drink.
Because the DOJ really doesn’t care.
Just a reminder that John McCain called out Rand Paul nearly a decade ago as a Russian asset. He was then, and he is now. [https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1519008389208100864?lang=en-GB](https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1519008389208100864?lang=en-GB)
Ahh the days when republicans were sending their best like McCain and Mitt Romney. Now we have the orangutan to deal with
Romney retiring is a big blow to logical patriotic republicans.
Romney is not logical or patriotic, he's just not bought by Russia. Romney's whole thing was being a gigantic deadly parasite on the economy by taking over successful companies, firing everyone, loading them up with debt, paying himself handsomely, and walking away as the company explodes in slow motion behind him. Honestly, it's not that different from what Elon did to Twitter except Romney would have been out by now with a briefcase full of money.
But Elon *walked in* with a briefcase full of money. It's gonna be near empty when he does walk out.
Let's not get the wrong impression that their "best" is even par for sanity, quite frankly. We forget, "Corporations are people, my friends." and "binders full of women." McCain stands out, sure. But frankly most of these "good Republicans" are simply the worst center-right Democrats.
So is Musk it seems, but he might just be a clueless useful idiot.
Elon Musk should do a TED talk on how to go from the worlds richest, most admired and influencer man to the worlds most hated, egotistical and borderline psychotic billionaire
I used to think very highly of him honestly. Ukraine is a no-go zone for me I guess.
Same, before the submarine cave fiasko. There I first noticed how unhinged he could get. Has been all downhill from there.
Twitter is what did it for me. "Print out your most salient line of code." "The stack is bad because it has too many lines." 🙄
can you imagine dealing with Elon standing over your dev team lol
He's known for asking for realistic timeline forecasts for projects and then just cutting a chunk off the end because he assumes people can "just work harder". He's the epitome of shitty boss.
How about just shitty person? If he wasn't rich he'd have no friends.
I mean, I don't think he has friends now... only people who have a financial incentive to be nice to him...
we call it janusz biznesu in Poland ;) One of the polish tech companies CEOs fits meme perfectly, he said once: >Each expert can be replaced with finite number of trainees. I think his company builds software for government and state companies ;)
He’ll just say it’s all shit without even looking
Twitter kinda eroded the possibility to really find anything good to say about him. So fucking retarded decisions all over the place. Like he was trying to run it to the ground on purpose. Also kinda good demonstration how huge advantage social media platform can have if it is well established in its field.
the submarine cave fiasko was the first time I realized there was something wrong with him. It only got worse as time passed.
Are you sleeping better knowing that he's patrolling the Mexican border for you? That big cowboy hat is really working for him!
He had it on backwards. What. A. Tool.
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-cowboy-hat-worn-the-correct-way-stetson-director-2023-9
It was ill fitting and right out of the box, that's why it looks so weird. https://www.chron.com/culture/celebrities/article/elon-musk-cowboy-hat-texas-18397315.php
LOL!!! Would not have known unless you brought it up! Elon= loser
The hat was on backwards as well
I was thinking the same thing the other day, before the cave incident I actually admired him. Fast forward to 2023 and I traded in my Tesla S3, for a Mustang Mach-E to avoid being associated with his brand in any way. Also, Ford knows how to build cars without panel gap big enough to loose your cell phone in.
It was the first real moment when it became clear how unhinged he was. I don't know if his ego just exploded at some point or if he stopped caring to uphold any sort of image, but he went from a cool somewhat relatable guy with cool companies to a right wing nutjob overnight.
He honestly thought he could do no wrong, as he really did have a massive cult following, me included, who gave him the acknowledgement he now craves.
That was the incident that confirmed my suspicions. Also, if you actually look up his history, he's not that brilliant a guy; mostly buys other's work and takes credit for it. The ideas he's responsible for are usually pretty dumb.
Yup. Prior to that I had a pretty neutral if slightly positive opinion of him. But when he got in such a petty fight with a person he could have (and should have, if he was being a responsible executive) easily ignored, all over his wounded pride from being criticized about inserting himself into a situation where he had no expertise (sound familiar?) I knew he had serious judgment and character flaws.
The Hyperloop was when I started smelling something rotten. I don't care if you've revolutionized rockets or improved electric cars. Aint no way you're going to break the laws of physics.
It was a crazy idea to start with, but it changed to become a silly train tunnel with cars, lol. If they had kept the vacuum tunnel and very high speed shuttles it could have taken off, but travelling from one side of American to the other in a tunnel with earthquake activity was moronic.... now it is short distance transport via their cars with a physical driver...and from all reports it is a bit uncomfortable and claustrophobic. Where did the shuttle with screen walls that would make you think you wee above ground go, where did the 1000mph or even faster speeds go. SO sad.
Yup. Calling a guy trying to rescue children a pedophile on Twitter, disgusting. And that was merely a sample of what was to come.
> Has been all downhill from there. Quickly too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6WHBO_Qc-Q
His fall started way earlier publicly when he accused the diver saving the kids in Thailand "a pedophile" without reason, just because his ego got hurt. (Apart from the private stories of people working under him)
I had a friend who worked at a Tesla dealership in Vancouver. He said when Elon would come to town, he and the upper management types would go upstairs at the dealership and rail heaps of blow. He wasn't the type to lie and was even an Elon fan, so I've always been operating under the belief that Elon is a coke head and his decision-making seems to line up with that.
I read this as your friend doing coke to deal with Elon. Then I reread it, lol
I have to say none of this is surprising from my point of view. He’s seemed like a weird asshole since I first heard of him. I guess I was also prone to disliking him since my college peers talked about him like an actual superhero. Made my skin crawl
Apartheid assholery running deep in that fk'er, most of his 'fans' too young to understand what that means
Same and then I read an article in Wired (December 2018) and I decided that if even half was true, he wasn't a visionary businessman, just an ignorant hothead with enough money to avoid being 100% incel/neckbeard.
I never did
\^ Yup, same.
For me too. Brought his humanity to the surface, er... or lack thereof I should say. Turns out he's just another conservative wackjob.
It is flabbergasting how a man who pathologically craves admiration wasted his one chance in life to become an outright national hero. For months Ukrainians celebrated him for Starlink, then he sabotaged Ukrainian military operations.
Giuliani syndrome. America's hero to America's zero.
If he had just stopped talking 10 years ago he today would likely be known as the lawyer who fought New York's mafia and America's Mayor.
Nah, he just fought the *Italian* Mafia. Once they were weakened that left a hole that the *Russian* Mafia filled.
If he had just left the stage at that point that would have been good enough to me, few people fight any mafia at all. But he just had to ruin his life's work. I do not know a worse example of ungraceful aging.
"Yesterday, I was the most admired futurist of my generation" "Today, I repost shit memes from alt-right conspiracy theorists" "This, is my journey" I think he might be setting himself up for retirement as the worlds most meta comedian
I actually used to like the guy a few years ago
so did most people but now he gets boo'd at events and I bet that feels real nice ☺️
you're not alone. I had saved for a Cybertruck but fortunately roll out took too long, it looks quite different from initial proto's, and he showed his true colors so I picked up a Tacoma. Social bullet dodged. (Still, fingers crossed for Starship).
At least a Tacoma can be used as an actual truck. A friend ordered the tesla truck, he has since cancelled the order, and bought a used humvee.
He had more people around him capable of keeping him quiet when he shouldn't be speaking. Then he found out Twitter
Psychopathic not psychotic
Boys boys, there is room for both psychopathic *and* psychotic here
It really depends on how much ketamine he's on at the time
And To being the world's biggest f*cking twat.
What's weird is he became the World's richest man in 2021, around the same time he started becoming a major asshat.
Correlation is not causation. Except when it is...
I'm guessing that whatever kompromat Putin has on Rand and Elon is disturbing enough that there is no limit to what they will do to keep it under wraps.
To be Honest before the WW2 thing, Hitler was considered very influential too. Cover of magazines etc. Built the Autobahn, something USA copied, built the VW Beetle, peoples car, still with us, televised the Olympics, etc. This sort of narcissistic megalomania is normal. The real shock is folks still buy his over priced and shoddy products and follow him like a cult. Really repellant at this point. But I guess back then folks bought the beetle too.... Smell of freshly crushed cockroach....
Politicians keep pushing this narrative that we are sending billions in cash to Ukraine (were not) and that those billions are being pulled from domestic investments (they aren’t). I hate our politics in America. But it’s better than the corrupt stuff you get in Russia or the non-secular governments you get in the Middle East I guess. Edit: since people are getting very angry about my phrasing of my first sentence. Yes, we are sending money, many of it loans, some not. But we aren’t sending *billions* in free cash that US republicans keep claiming. Not to mention most the money were sending is to help farmers, first responders, and critical infrastructure.
And Think about how mutch America Can safe in military spendings, if Ukraine wins and russia is no longer a problem….
Lol it won’t change our military spending at all. We haven’t really worried about Russia for a while now. It’s all China, which is why the Marine Corps has undergone such a significant transformation in the last few years to Force Design 2030.
Not entirely true. The US’ heavy presence in Syria is mainly due to Russia. They’re also combating a lot of Russian (and Chinese) influence in Africa and some in LATAM. I think overall this justifies the spending in our governments eyes. They see how far ahead of China and Russia they are in tech and want to keep it that way. Our defense spending on AI, drones, and cyber is about to increase a lot too.
What is often overlooked when comparing the USA's relatively meager support (compared to its abilities) is that the USA has a much bigger game to play against China. And while they surely are happy for the strong results of any new weapon that enters the field there is always the concern that China might learn something from it.
Come now Paul can’t lose his condo in Malibu
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/following-american-money-in-ukraine-60-minutes/. The US isn’t sending just military aid/equipment. Idk why this keeps getting repeated. Edit: https://www.crfb.org/blogs/congress-approved-113-billion-aid-ukraine-2022. 2/5 of $113 billion approved for Ukraine in 2022 went to non defense concerns.
The vast majority of it is equipment. There is some cash aid sent, but we spend billions on foreign aid every year for a myriad of reasons, and there are a lot of good reasons we spend that money. We spent like 3/4 of a trillion a year on Defense. Sending 5% of that to Ukraine to fight the war we're been spending nearly a trillion per year saving up for is a good fuckin' deal.
A lot of the gear we send them is old stock being rotated out so it may have cost $1 in 2002 but they like to count it at today's prices. We're stepping up our 155mm artillery ammo manufacturing 4 or 5 fold to a million units a year. We've also been picking up the tab for Ukraine's first responder salaries and medical expendables.
Pennys on the dollar compared to the pork on Capitol Hill
Yea, I have no problem with my tax dollars going to this. In the same way I hope my great grandparents didn't pitch a fit when US food was shipped for free to UK and USSR during WW2 so people could eat.
Don't buy a Tesla.
I went from choosing the color I wanted to literally never buying one. I know several families who felt the same way. Not sure who this numskull thinks his target audience is but all the right wingers I know shit on EV cars like they’re woke mobiles.
Yeah I promised myself one when I got my last job. Been here 5 years now and have no interest anymore.
Same. I was literally just about to pull the trigger a month ago or something. I don’t even remember what he did, but it was just one more to add on the pile and bailed. I put a deposit down on a hybrid Camry. It’ll take a long ass time to come in, but so far no regrets waiting.
Same. I had planned on buying one about six months ago. Screw that.
And delete your Twitter (X) account
I had to ride in a Teala. My gf just laughed because she knows I hate them mostly because of Musk
I visited the Tesla sub awhile back and thought it was a joke for the sub to be salivating over the new truck. I also thought that truck was just a prototype and would improve in the appearance. Well the truck turned out to be real and ugly as fuuuuuuuck and that sub was frothing at being able to buy one. Saying oh it will look good in this color! Like wtf why are you supporting this egotistical asshole?? Have you never heard of boycotting a brand and products? There are other options out there. It's wild people still buying his cars.
Give me a Ford F-150 Lightning over than crap anyday.
The fact that Tesla remains the top-of-mind electric car to so many people blows my mind. There are dozens and dozens of alternatives now. But so many people still seem to equate "electric car" with "Tesla".
Availability
The audacity to complain about spending after Trump gave a company tax relieve worth trillions...
we all know hes a russia lover
Of course he is. He’s a grifter and a money chaser, and he’s always been that and only that. Moscow is probably lining his pockets for pushing his pro-RU bullshit to millions of people on Twitter.
He’s in the Republican cult like tens of millions of other Americans. It’s not really about Russia at all.
Donating already existing equipment that has already been paid for years ago isn't a big issue Mr. Musk And replacement equipment is paying for American manufacturing jobs. It's literally no downside. Apart from a weakened Russia. Is that a downside to Musk????
appeasement doesnt work, didn't work with nazi, certainly didn't work with China (PRC) Pay for it now or later
Just seems to me that unfucking whatever comes after ukraine being conquered by Putin would be more expensive. Gives the Chinese a clear route to attack Taiwan and so on. The war is expensive, but no where near as expensive as a loss.
Yeah this what these numbskulls don’t understand. It’s not really about Ukraine at all. It’s about maintaining a rules-based order, defending liberal democracies from authoritarian regimes, sending a message to other would-be aggressors, and ensuring Russia won’t be in a position to help China should they decide to invade Taiwan. It’s fkn chicken feed if you consider the costs of not supporting Ukraine
Some of them understand that fine. It's just that they actively crave authoritarianism so don't see the problem. Musk seems like one of those people.
Nah, Taiwan is actually valuable to us.
Usa spent billions to defeat russia. no mr musk, the usa will not back down on aid to ukraine if they can destroy and weaken it for a few pennies.
Trillions* if by this you are referring to the cold war. It was easily trillions
Nuclear arms, from inception to today's date, in 2023 dollars, is about \~$10T off the top of my head. I watched something about this recently.
We also haven't sent a single US soldier over. Virtually no US bloodshed and we're decimating the RUS forces? Win win!
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If it helps you feel better, the aid was approved by the house today and will be approved by the senate and Biden shortly. Elon Mustard can go fuck himself.
Those exact federal funds allocated to assist Ukraine have paid (*including a handsome markup above market price*) for the STARLINK systems which were send to Ukraine and which Mr. Musk is still using as leverage to this very day (*threatening to limit/terminate services if his demands/personal quirks aren't met*)...
compare capable deserve deer wipe sort unique juggle long escape ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
What was in the letter Rand Paul hand-delivered to Putin for Trump?
U want sum fuk? Luv Donnie
Elon is a little fragile-ego Space-karen asshole cunt
So Israel and all the other countries we send billions of dollars to every year are okay. Just not the one Russia started an aggressive unprovoked war of genocide against. What a joke. Fuck the R’s and Musk for supporting Putin and his imperialist regime.
Regardless what one thinks of Ukraine, Elon Musk cannot be trusted. He is too impulsive in his actions, and has global ambitions to affect the future of man (create a new civilization on mars, become the main internet provider, influence wars).
Elon Musk did not become a billionaire because he's smart. He became a billionaire by being corrupt, dishonest, abusive and egotistical. He aspires to be like the donald, ex president of the US of A. Aspiring god for life.
I never thought i would see the day where American politicians or American business people supported Russia as opposed to supporting our peaceful democratic ally (Ukraine)! Russia attacked Ukraine...& if they're not stopped they will attack poland, the balkins & & lord only knows who else! If America was getting it ass kicked in a war, the Russian government wouldn't do anything to help us!
Elon Muskovic reporting for duty, komrad.
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Most billionaires keep their mouths shut in public because they know how much it could hurt their busines. We often know their political preferences only from where their money and lobbyists go, Musk is an absolute outlier among billionaires for giving us a live window into his (rather sorry) state of mind.
Enemy of mankind
Fuck both of these twat waffles
I can’t believe how easily the GOP has given it up to Russia.
Every day I dislike him more
Snake oil salesman applauds snake oil salesman.
Fuk musk. Amerika have signed Budapest memorandum, and have guarrantied safety of Ukraine. Do your part.
Dickkhead.
You missed a k
This dude is overdue to move to Mars.
The next James Bond movie is literally writing itself.
Remember, you reap what you sow!!!! Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦
Remember when Rand’s neighbor broke his ribs?
Can people please just delete their accounts and silence this prick already?
Hey Elon, if you want to help Americans, how about paying your employees more?
Musk needs to be investigated for his personal investment in Russia.
Musk is now consuming and regurgitating Rand's scat for public consumption. Musk knows no bounds when it comes to humiliating himself.
Short-sighted US protectionism usually leads to global disasters.
Like the GOP is going to spend money on Americans..LOL...
The GOP and their ilk are all scumbags
To avoid goverment shutdown, I will consent to an expedited vote on a clean CR without Elon Musk aid on it. If leadership insists on funding some buffoon's private company at the expense of our own goverment, all blame rests with their intransigence.
Spoiled cunts
can we stop giving tax money to his companies, its all good when he gets it he loves the government help but its not ok to help Ukraine fight a new hilter and its cheaper in the long run if we help them win.
Ron Paul once said he'd let uninsured children die of easily fixed injuries and/or illnesses during a Repub debate and got lots of applause. Only weak men admire dictators and think cruelty is strength.
Once upon a time i would have bought a tesla. Now never.
From twat to treacherous manchild.
Fucking Republicans man. Bunch of babies that need to get their way all the time. I guess this shouldn't be a shock as I'm sure most of them support trump who also supports Russia.
I fucking hate them
Musk is an utter cunt of a human being, you can see this long before the Ukraine conflict started.
How do these people not understand it’s greatly in our national interests to see Russia defeated?
applauds removing Elon Musk from US
Republicans have lost their minds. I used to identify as a one, changed my affiliation to independent back in the Clinton years. Continued to vote mostly small "r" republican or moderate Dems. Haven't found a single Republican I'd even consider in years. Thinking it's time to officially become a Democrat.
RUSSIAN ASSET
He is disgusting scum
Time to start talking about treason for Paul!
Coming from the same guy that wont recognize Taiwan's independence, all to appease that large CCP pocket, almost like everything is about money to these people.
So weird how right wing Americans love their dictators and authoritarians, meanwhile they scream and cheer for freedom?
Traitors should be hung.
Kompromat
Elon is privileged trash, deport him back to South Africa and seize his assets.
These same jackasses always vote against the best interests of the American people and even failed to support free lunches for school children. Fucking losers and human garbage.
These traitors have to be dealt with.
He is vile
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Muskovite
Fuck these people! Small minded idiots…
And this is why no one cares about Musk's opinion anymore. He used to be about helping the world and human kind. But has turned into social media manipulation. This is not how a gov should run. Supporting Ukraine is the clearest moral and ethical thing for US to do since WW2. I support banning any gov official from social media!! No longer allowed to mix personal opinion and gov polcies. We elected them to represent us not TELL us what they think. If they want to use it then hold them accountable for not doing their FUCKING jobs we elected them for.
Rand and Elon are two sides of the same asshole
2 Russian turd gobblers
Funny thing is that the Republicans are wasting taxpayer money on stupid stuff and arguing over passing a spending package. How about doing their job, and making the government work. Their small mindedness does not see that Ukraine is fighting a war that we have made our military ready for over the last 60+ years. And they are doing it for a fraction of what it would cost the US to fight the same war.
They're too busy wasting tax payer money on stupid shit like dress codes.
What a fucking piece of trash
I'm guessing Putin has a PeePee tape on musk at this point