MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2025
Will anyone else ever ask? Based on BREAKING developments, we postpone our plan to school you about this news report in Saturday's New York Times:
Fort Liberty Renamed Fort Bragg, Fulfilling a Trump Campaign Promise
Congress had pushed past President Trump’s veto to rename Fort Bragg, named for a Confederate general, in the final days of his first term.
That was the dual headline. As you may have heard, Pete Hegseth has proceeded to Make Fort Bragg Fort Bragg Again, albeit with one minor hitch.
Anthropologically, it's a fascinating, multipart story about the limits of human functioning. That said, we postpone today's planned report due to BREAKING news.
Is something wrong with Elon Musk? Within the past month, we've asked this question at various times, hopefully without being unpleasant.
That said, will the time ever come when someone else asks that question? We base that inquiry on this report by Alex Griffing at Mediaite:
‘You Are a Traitor’: Elon Musk Launches Stunning Attack on Senator and Decorated Veteran for Supporting Ukraine
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) fired back at Elon Musk on Monday after the Tesla billionaire called him a “traitor’ for visiting Ukraine.
Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy captain, posted a lengthy thread on Sunday about his visit to Ukraine. He wrote, “Just left Ukraine. What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people. Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin. Let me tell you about my trip and why it’s important we stand with Ukraine.”
Musk replied to Kelly’s post, “You are a traitor.”
You can read Griffing's full report simply by clicking that link. Here's the start of the corresponding report by ABC News, dual headline included:
Musk calls Sen. Kelly a 'traitor' over trip to Ukraine, Kelly hits back
This isn't the first feud between Musk and the Democratic senator.
Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, called Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly a "traitor" in a post on X after Kelly posted that he had visited Ukraine over the weekend.
Kelly, in a thread on X Sunday night, posted photos of his visit to Ukraine and wrote that "Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine's security and can't be a giveaway to Putin."
In a reply to the thread, Musk responded, "You are a traitor."
We wish there was some better face to place on this astounding behavior by Musk. We can't quite see that there is.
"The [old] order is rapidly fading?" We recalled that famous declaration in this morning's report.
In fact, deeply "old orders" can die very hard. As Kubrick outlined in Eyes Wide Shut, over time they may tend to come back.
For today, these are our final questions:
Is something "wrong" in this sad situation? In the course of these all-too-human affairs, will anyone else ever ask?
Tiedrich:
ReplyDelete"hey, remember ‘Joe Biden is old?’
for a while there, it was all the worthless scribblers of the corporate-controlled media could talk about. did you see how old Joe Biden was today? how can anyone be that old? so fucking old. how is he even still alive?
for the better part of last year, the press hounded Biden about his age and mental acuity. prove you’re not dead right now, Joe. they blew it up into the biggest story of the century. meanwhile, Donny Convict — the deteriorating demento who babbled incessantly about batteries and sharks and Hannibal Lecter wants to have you for dinner — got an eternal free pass.
Subscribed
Joe’s enjoying the shit out of his retirement now.
in his place sits Donny. in just seven weeks, he’s completely wrecked the joint — and he still can’t go five minutes without mouthfarting the world’s craziest batshit. and the press? crickets. they still can’t be bothered to care.
imagine that Sleepy Joe had confused federal for fetanyl."
Somerby was among those who couldn't stop talking about how old Biden was. Now, he pretends to be a legacy media watchdog, but Somerby piled right on with the Republicans and the oligarchs who own major newspapers, and yes, Nancy Pelosi, to push Biden off the ticket, so that he wouldn't accidentally beat Trump and ruin the plan to reinstate the master race and turn the working class into peasants.
When the media ignore something, it is for a reason. Somerby only wants to discuss Trump's insanity. He won't call it dementia. Have you ever wondered why not? Perhaps calling an elected politician crazy will always be discounted by his supporters. Whereas calling someone who is old "demented" might gain traction, even among Trump's followers. Trump is obviously old, as old as Biden and his gaffes and difficulties thinking and speaking are way worse than Biden's were. Dementia is much easier to prove than insanity (especially without a coherent definition, which Somerby has always lacked).
If Somerby were serious about saying there is something wrong with these guys, he would consider facts instead of just calling names.
Does Somerby seriously think that no one has called Trump in league with Putin? Trump and Musk are on the same page, and both are now supporting Putin instead of Ukraine. Musk is merely suggesting that someone who disagrees with the President must be a traitor, ignoring that fealty is to our Constitution and our nation, not to a public servant who serves the people (which is what a president has always been). That makes Musk a minion of an obvious autocrat. Note that Somerby wants others to notice and discuss this, but he won't come right out and state who and what he thinks Musk and Trump are. He hints and coyly references obscure parts of previously quoted essays (written long before Trump was on the scene) and will not ever call Trump a traitor in so many words. How then can he expect anyone else to do so?
ReplyDeleteAsking "is something wrong" is not anywhere close to stating "there is something wrong" much less telling his readers what he thinks may be wrong. The irony of this is obvious.
ReplyDeleteYes it is. Especially when it's done over and over, as Bob does. His meaning couldn't be more clear.
DeleteWhen someone is as hard to pin down as Somerby, it is possible for his readers to project any desired meaning onto his vague words. You appear to have done that.
DeleteTrump uses language just as incompetently, without a good faith desire to communicate. His followers project their desired meanings onto Trump's contradictory statements and feel just as sure that they know what he means, as you feel about Somerby.
That doesn't make Somerby's meaning clear.
Tiedrich has this right:
ReplyDelete"the Times is not wrong about the cultists being hoodwinked into believing what they want to believe — and kudos the worthless scribs for finally putting the words ‘outright lies’ in a subhead — but they make it sound like Donny’s incoherence is part of some cunning grand plan.
Donny doesn’t plan — he reacts. he’ll see something on Fox News — or Nosferatu McGoebbels will pop his head into the Oval Office and blurt something — and off goes Donny to the races, inventing a response then and there. doesn’t matter if it contradicts what Donny said twenty minutes ago. Donny can’t even remember what he said twenty minutes ago.
there is no cunning. there is no plan. there’s just that family of raccoons that live inside Donny’s big vacant head, indiscriminately chewing through the wires."
Donny is, of course, Donny Convict, our pretend President for Musk and Putin. How did we get to this place? Oh, year, "we had someone" to stop Trump, "but they didn't want that lady in office." So instead we get to be ruled by and for billionaires while our country goes to hell, but Somerby can't quite say what is wrong.
I think anyone who compares Musk to Kelly objectively knows how sick it is for Musk to make that remark.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you even need to make that comparison?
DeleteMusk went off the deep end a while back, somewhere around the first flailing pirouette on stage with Trump.
Will anyone say what is going on? Tiedrich does:
ReplyDelete"I’m not generally a conspiracy guy, but — suppose you were, say, the corrupt president of a country, and you wanted to make a killing in the stock market. here’s a way you could do it.
— announce a bunch of tariffs, and watch the stock market tank
— you and your cronies buy up a bunch of now-cheap stocks
— announce the tariffs are off, and watch the stock market rise
— you and your cronies sell off the stocks you bought cheaply and reap enormous profits"
Heather Cox Richardson has an excellent article today describing how Musk views NPGs (gamer terminology) and assigns that status to anyone who disagrees with him or is a political opponent or unsignificant person in his view (i.e., voters and working people in the US). She connect that to the attitude of Republicans toward everyday people who they considered to be mooching off the government.
ReplyDeletehttps://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-9-2025
Somerby used to complain about the way Democrats/liberals tend to otherize red voters, but I fail to see how this historical description of the way Republicans see the "little people" is any better or any different than what he claimed the left was doing.
Speaking of gamer terminology, there is one group of people who have unequivocally found Musk to be a fraud:
Deletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2025/01/14/elon-musks-fake-gamer-controversy-explained/
That an adult should have the need to ego boost over an online game or three, fraudulently, has got to be the definition of pathetic.
Thom Hartmann also has an excellent article about how the Republicans have been creating an affordable housing crisis in the US:
ReplyDeletehttps://hartmannreport.com/p/trump-cant-hide-the-real-killers-337
Brother Musk? He isn't my brother. Why does Somerby help these cretins by giving them warm fuzzy appellations, like brother or commander?
ReplyDeleteWealthiest man in the world
ReplyDeleteFirst or second most powerful man in the world
Owns
SpaceX
X
xAI
Tesla
Starlink
Neuralink
Boring
In other words, dominates the seven most exciting industries on our planet.
Has his pick of beautiful women.
Impregnates women by looking at them.
Boomers and homosexuals are consumed with envy.
Musk pays women on his staff to have his children because he thinks his "genius" needs to be propagated. He has no interest in raising any kids. I estimate that about 60% of women would have nothing to do with him despite his money because he is both physically repulsive, immoral, demented, lives a drug lifestyle and is an arrogant pig. Some women will, because there are women who are transactional and motivated by money (e.g., Melania), but implying that all beautiful women care nothing about a man's character or whether he respects and treats women well, is a knock against women in general. Not all women can be bought, just as not all men are rapists and sex abusers (like Donny Convict).
Delete"Boomers and homosexuals are consumed with envy."
DeleteSounds like we should add you to that list.
Of course Musk doesn't just happen to own these companies. He made them successful through exceptional management skills. These are extraordinary accomplishments.
DeleteAll heterosexual men are attracted to beautiful women and all heterosexual women are attracted to obscenely wealthy men.
Delete"....(Musk's) extraordinary accomplishments."
DeleteHow would you rate his accomplishments as head of DOGE?
Yes, Musk is extraordinary in ways that translate to insane successes. Less risk-averse than most, more involved and aggressive, incredible vision, works well with people.
DeleteSounds like he bought 6:52 a horse. Was it good for you too?
DeleteSelling our personal data to China makes Musk richer and smarter.
DeleteHector "How would you rate his accomplishments as head of DOGE?"
DeleteI'd give him an A. He needs to be compared with what's possible. Presidents Bide, Obama, and VP
Gore all tried to eliminated waste and fraud in government. They had minimal success, because it's a very difficult challenge. I don't remember how much money each of them saved, and Musk's figure is still vague, but I expect that in just 2 months, Musk may have saved 50X as much as the others. Musk also eliminated a bunch of dreadful programs.
The reason I don't give Musk an A+ is because he hasn't convinced Congress to do enough. E.g., although Musk showed that USAID was corrupt and that most of spending was inappropriate, Congress will fully fund them under the Budget Bill.
Of course Musk has been criticized for cutting some appropriate spending. I don't mark him down for that. Using a meat axe was the only way to do the job. And, valuable programs will be reinstated.
“Using a meat axe was the only way…”. Sure. Wipe out The national weather service the nuclear arsenal oh well
DeleteMusk has not eliminated waste. He is eliminating essential staff and programs because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
DeleteOn the other hand, musk is exposing our most sensitive data to incredible risk, or perhaps he wants to sell it. Something sinister and purposeful may be going on. The cavalier unconcern shown by DiC and the gop is astonishing.
Deletehttps://www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/10/tom-cotton-does-nothing-as-opm-hack-equivalent-happens-in-plain-sight/
"Using a meat axe was the only way to do the job.'
DeleteQ1: Why?
Hector -- a slow approach would run out of time. E.g., suppose Musk decided carefully review USAID so that all of its worthwhile spending was retained and bade spending was ended. USAID may fund hundreds of distinct programs. Some are misnamed. People at USAID would tell Musk that each of these programs is necessary. Musk would have to look at what each USAID program actually does. Some Musk moves would be held up in court and need to be defended. The whole process could take months.
DeleteBut USAID is only one of perhaps hundreds of agencies that spend government money. It could take many years or even decades to properly review each spending decision.
Yes, this is why Musk should not be doing what he’s doing. You don’t amputate an arm because you don’t have time to remove a splinter.
DeleteThese spending decisions were made during budgeting and when the programs were enacted. Their supervision is the responsibility of the management. There is no excuse for what Musk is doing.
DiC,
Deleteso those are the two choices? The mindless meat axe or a torturous, decades-long process.
Trump has the resources of the federal gvt. at his disposal. If he were competent, and had competent managers, a much more thorough and intelligent process could be accomplished in six months by starting with the highest-cost programs, without the need for a bumbler like Musk.
But in a way you're right. Since none of Trump's top managers know anything about the agencies they manage, I guess at this point it would be very difficult to do.
We'll just have to settle for cheap, mistake-riddled theatrics instead of good government.
Drain the swamp: Conservatives believe that non-elected bureaucrats have exercised power without proper oversight. Many of these people are not on Trump's and Musk's side. Some even physically blocked Musk's people from coming in to their area.
DeleteSo, Trump does not have the resources of the federal government at his disposal. On the contrary, many of those 'resources' are working to thwart Trump.
It's very hard for an appointed Secretary to effect a change. E.g., the Dept. of Education is one of the smaller agencies. It has 4,000 or so employees. Most have great job security due to civil service rules. How can one new Secretary of Education make needed big changes? Especially since most employees in that Dept. oppose the changes? What would you do to fix the problem?
On the contrary, many of those 'resources' are working to thwart Trump.
DeleteDouble-talking bullshit. Thwart Trump from doing what exactly, Dickhead?
Congress makes the laws and creates the federal agency. The president executes the laws. That's how the fucking Constitution works. There is no Article in the Constitution for an Elon.
David in Cal,
DeleteConservatives say that non-elected bureaucrats have exercised power without proper oversight.
In reality, Conservatives believe in a return to racial hierarchies, and that white Christian men should run the country.
What next, saying Conservatives believe in economics? LOL.
David in Cal,
DeleteYou must be over the moon with this Trump Presidency. He's crashing the economy (which you don't care about at all), while he punches down on minorities (which is THE reason you voted for him).
Lucky ducky, you.
12:45,
DeleteMusk doesn't get graded anything higher than a gentleman's C-, until he cuts off Israel.
d in C - you have morphed into an obsequious sycophant apologist for trump & Musk. You have no idea whether the cuts that are being made, dictator style, by decree, are wise or not. You are financially comfortable, Trump is even more pro-Israel than Biden, you are largely insulated from direct harm, but if the economy tanks and the world goes into a tail spin, maybe not so much. You don't know who is going to be harmed by these cuts, not just the fired workers, and to what extent, or how much of what is being cut is fraud or waste. The disabled and the poor will almost certainly feel the brunt of it, and a large portion of the middle class also. You don't know if his economic policies - all these tariffs - will bring on a golden age of prosperity or wreck the US economy, as well as the world's. That Musk would call Kelly a "traitor" for taking Ukraine's side - and other oddities about him , like the idea the human race can only be saved by inhabiting Mars - doesn't that impeach his judgment, such that your faith in his decisions might be unjustified? IYour trust in him seems to be based on his business success and wealth - but governing a nation is different than being a businessman.
DeleteWhat does Tracy Nelson's song Sad Situation have to do with Musk and current politics (about which the song was NOT written and has nothing to do). The next line is "cause I'm still loving you." None of us here love Musk or Trump. Is Somerby hinting that he does?
ReplyDeleteKelly is a traitor and dictator Zelenskyy sent Trump a pleading letter of apology yesterday. Won't help.
ReplyDeleteDa, Boris. Remember: don't stand too near window.
DeleteWhy must we endure this plague of annoying trolls who do nothing but repeat propaganda slogans? Will no one rid us of these meddlesome trolls? Somerby could moderate his blog, the way Kevin Drum always did. He apparently doesn't care enough about actual discourse to do that.
DeletePutin's hackers staged a raid on X today just to keep the chaos rolling.
Delete6:55,
DeleteThanks for the insight, Soros-bot.
George Soros is under your bed.
Deleteanon 8:45, your wit and sharp intelligence seems to have no bounds. You are openly pro-Russia, and point that Zelensky is a dictator, Kelly is a "traitor" Ukraine started the war. this apparently is so because you say it's so. What more proof do you need than calling anyone who disagrees with you a "Soros-Bot".
DeleteDemocrats have a Temu version of Elon Musk, Mark Cuban who looks just like Rachel Maddow.
ReplyDelete7:03 You will buy into anything . On Rogan’s podcast Musk lied that and said when he bought into Tesla they hadn’t designed a car yet, when in fact they produced a prototype that year. He is a bullshit artist on the same level as Trump.
ReplyDelete“ is there going to be a recession?”
ReplyDeleteTrump: “ Who knows? “
Trump: “ we’re going to be raking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. We’re going to be so rich you won’t know how to spend all that money. “
Stock market: crash
Money is going to be flowing out of the equities markets now as the Trump recession goes into full swing, with investors' faith in this economy plummeting There is still a lot of space between Tesla's current stock price and a reasonable valuation. People will be selling Tesla stock in droves, anticipating the worst
DeleteMusk calling Kelly a traitor while slashing tens of thousands of VA jobs is kind of rich. Servicemen don't take lightly to rich assholes denigrating their fellow men who have served, while withdrawing manpower from an already heavily taxed health system. Meanwhile, Trump tanks the economy while imposing a regressive tax on this country with tariffs that will disproportionately hurt the lower income strata.
ReplyDeleteWhat the fuck do you want me to do about it? What the fuck are you gonna do about it?
Delete1:27,
DeleteCall Mao a Soros-bot.
I'm already hiding under my bed, clutching my 2nd Amendment rights. What more do you want?
Delete
ReplyDelete"Is something wrong with Brother Musk?"
Something is very much right with Brother Musk, Bob: he is the most successful entrepreneur in the world who is helping to make America great again!
Brother Musk, as your cult leader likes to say, does the goodest job.
Have you seen a doctor about your TLS?
DeleteI think there's 8 billion reasons why Musk is great for America. Sorry, 8 million. Got the decimal wrong.
DeleteOops. Now I"m told those 8 million reasons aren't reasons at all. They're raisins. I'll have to talk to Big Balls about that.
We were supposed to accept rooms full of slaughtered First Graders in exchange for the "good guys with the guns" fighting the tyranny of the government with their 2nd Amendment Rights.
ReplyDeleteIf gun owners aren't going to hold-up their end of the bargain, it's long past time to ban gun ownership. Besides, the 2nd Amendment hasn’t done anything good for the country, since Chris Kyle was shot to death at a gun range. And that was over a dozen years ago.
I told you electing a President with PLS (Putin Lickspittle Syndrome) was a mistake, but Republican voters loved Trump's bigotry too much to listen.
ReplyDeleteSo what are you gonna do about it? What do you expect anyone to do about it? We get it. You’re scared of Republicans. But you never do anything about it except sit online and complain like a woman.
Delete9:59,
DeleteCome to the meetings.
TSLA is a Ponzi scheme.
ReplyDeleteI really like looking through a post that can make people think.
ReplyDeleteYour website is useful.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding Blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are a very skilled blogger.
ReplyDeleteGreat
ReplyDeleteFantastic.
ReplyDelete