Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, November 18, 2022
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111 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Twitter ‘closes offices’ after Elon Musk’s loyalty oath sparks wave of resignations
Musk doesn’t have clue, never mind a plan. He never wanted to buy Twitter to begin with. He only went thru with the purchase after his lawyers finally got it thru his thick skull that shut up time was long past and it was now put up time. That sooner or later he was gonna put up and the longer he delayed it only meant he was gonna have to put up more and more.
Now that he owns it, it appears the one and only rule is that the serfs should have no life outside of the office and every minute spent in the office should be spent on their knees singing praises to his indomitable genius for mere pennies.
Who could resist such an offer?
You may all refer to me, hence forth, as “Lord Mu”. For I am now a Scottish landowner.
Established Titles
It’s “legit”–in that it uses an obscure, centuries-old loophole where anyone owning land is deemed a “Laird” or “Lady”. I own 5 square feet of Scottish land, therefore, I’m… well… entitled!
It’s a way to preserve Scottish green space, and each plot includes the planting of a tree.
You are dismissed.
New FTX boss, who worked on Enron bankruptcy, condemns ‘unprecedented failure’
Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried is another person in need of a healthy dose of STFU.
Something tells me he he’ll keep singing his praises. After all, nobody else will.
@OzarkHillbilly: As one who spent the last 20 years as a contract worker, I made it a point of professional pride upon moving on to the next job to leave my office space as clean and neat as possible with enough notes and information to facilitate the next guy or gal.
I would not have that attitude if I were leaving Twitter. I would not go so far as sabotage (because I’m not that guy) the success of the successor, but I would not do anything to help the company.
Similarly, if I were working remote and got summarily dismissed, I wouldn’t go out of my way to return any laptops or equipment. Would just let them know they could make an appointment to come and pick them up. Even if it were in the middle of rural Missouri.
As for the latest farce, I would take the 3 months severance and look for a new job. If Twitter came crawling back, you could be sure there would be a big fat raise requested along with certain working conditions.
Musk thinks he is a hand waving monarch but it is really the employees at this point who have the leverage.
Waiting for some disgruntled employee to delete Musk’s Twitter account.
@OzarkHillbilly: “Something tells me he he’ll keep singing his praises. After all, nobody else will.”
Absolutely. The geniuses in the investing world and financial journalism have got to be on the hunt for the next obvious conman to throw money at.
In other financial skullduggery news:
“No criminal history”… As long as you ignore her recent conviction for fraud. She’s just a “gentle and loving person who tries to do the right thing” by stealing $140 million from investors. But hey, she’s a pretty blond white girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly and has no business being locked up with thugs and drug dealers. That would be so unfair.
@Scott: The beauty of being a union carpenter was that I didn’t have to take shit from anybody. Walking off a job was free of consequences. Well, other than losing a paycheck. I long ago lost count of the jobs I left because of abusive behavior from superintendents, riding bosses, foremen, company owners etc etc. I wouldn’t say anything, just pick up my tools and start walking. It was funny how their voices increased in decibels with every silent step I made.
@wr: “Sycophants are us.”
@Mu Yixiao:
Laird is not a title of nobility. It’s a “lord” in the sense of “landlord”.
@Mu Yixiao:
That title and ~$3.50 will buy you a coffee.
So, the Global Snooze Fest is about to get started, and at work the newest TV has been installed and the satellite TV service paid for.
Not without problems. First the table it was to be placed on proved not wide enough. they had to get some boards to extend it. Next the picture was kind of reduced, but apparently the satellite people managed to fix it.
Consensus at the office is that I’m the best placed to view the TV. that is, I have the best angle and don’t need to turn my head or chair.
I’d no idea the gods had such a sense of humor 😀
@OzarkHillbilly:
Being a cute blond playing the girl card will only get you so far.
@Mu Yixiao:
I’ve seen the online ads for it now and then. I’d no idea it had anything to do with preservation, but then I’ve never clicked on the ads.
I would pay one quarter of a cent for a snow flake from Mount Olympus, if it came with the title Olympian Goddess of The Big Idea.
The Musk empire is a fun place to work no matter where.
GIGAFACTORY BUILT ON WAGE THEFT AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS, TEXAS WORKERS ALLEGE
Eight SpaceX employees say they were fired for speaking up against Elon Musk
@Sleeping Dog:
I know it’s a gimmick. But it’s fun, and for a good cause.
Other places you get a sticker that says “I planted a tree”. With this, I get a fancy proclamation from King Charles III saying I’m a lord. 😀
@Stormy Dragon:
Shush, you. 😛
Remember, both sides are the same.
@OzarkHillbilly:
LOL, the latest episode of the Idiotic Genius Chronicles. This was the epitome of “Fk Around and Find Out …” 😀
@HarvardLaw92:
@OzarkHillbilly:
If I were Mr Musk, I’d be inclined to worry a bit that some of my fellow investors are somewhat testy fellows, with long memories and and a capacity to exact penalties.
Ali Hamedani reports on events in Iran:
@Tony W:
This poor guy was found guilty of collusion even though there was, famously, no collusion.
I have my suspicions that the whole Musk-Twitter debacle will end up as one of those cautionary tales in MBA courses.
There are still a lot of Musk groupies infesting the internet, absolutely convinced that this is all just one step in Musk’s 193-step super-secret genius plan to take over the world. A lot of them come off as young. VERY young. 14-year old young.
Oh, and as for FTX and its enthusiastic founder, I apologise on behalf of my alma mater. I haven’t decided whether this guy is closer to the “smartest guys in the room” (LTCM) or Bernie Madoff. Probably somewhere in between.
@Sleeping Dog: I’ve got my fingers crossed* but it’s worked for her before.
* I want her to do some serious time, but I think 15 years is excessive. Somewhere between 5 and 10 years sounds right to me. That and the reparations should be plenty.
@Tony W:
@daryl and his brother darryl:
I hadn’t seen that he was a Rand Paul staffer.
But it figures.
@grumpy realist:
Followed a link to a paywalled article that had the intriguing lede that Musk and several other billionaires are embarking on a project of genetic matchmaking to develop a super race of leaders. They must have missed discussion of regression to the mean in statistics.
@OzarkHillbilly:
My guess 12 years and $650M in restitution.
@grumpy realist: He’s been so effective at destroying Twitter, that it’s hard to believe that it is unintentional. However, I cannot think of any way that intentionally destroying it benefits him, so I’m convinced he must really be screwing things up that badly.
@Rick Smith: But but but he’s a genius, people just can’t understand that he’s doing the right thing for Twitter and it’s employees. Some day they will thank him for it.
@JohnSF:
Getting into bed with Saudi princes and the government of Qatar, then losing their money for them might be a tad risky, yup.
Once numbers get that big, I just can’t wrap my around them. $650M is about as meaningful to me as $650B.
@OzarkHillbilly:
The thing with geniuses, and St. Elon might be one, is that when they go wrong, they employ their hefty intellect in rationalizing why they really are right, no matter what the facts are. This is especially so when they go outside their area of expertise.
I can see Elon utterly undoing Twitter, burning large mounts of money, even reducing his considerable wealth by more than the GDP of whole countries, and he’d still be convinced he was brilliant and someone else fuc**d it up.
‘Biggest challenge of my life’: Kherson’s leaders toil to turn city around
Happy am I to not have his problems.
Followed a link to a paywalled article that had the intriguing lede that Musk and several other billionaires are embarking on a project of genetic matchmaking to develop a super race of leaders. They must have missed discussion of regression to the mean in statistics.
And the fact that genetics is a relatively new science and nobody knows anything important in this way about the genome. For example, show me the genetic propensity for being extremely gullible and then we’ll talk.
QFT.
I have had the pleasure of getting to know a few honest to god geniuses, and they each were smart enough to know when they were swimming in dangerous waters and therefor open to listening to more experienced voices. But Musk is the epitome of the opposite, absolutely convinced that he is the one person who can find the solution to any problem. I remember him trying to insert himself into the Thai cave rescue with his “submarine.” I saw the video of it in the lab and burst into laughter. It was obvious they had no idea of what the underground environment is like.
And poor little Elon got his panties in a bunch when the divers told him to stuff it.
This interview with John Mearsheimer is great. I’m not a huge fan of Chotiner’s interviews but in this case the tactic is ideal. Mearsheimer’s views are complete gibberish based on total credulity on everything Putin does. Choice quote:
@HarvardLaw92:
Wot, the al Saud?
I was thinking of a grizzled old Barclays guy cutting off his invites to the corporate box at Wimbledon and lunch at White’s 😉
@Sleeping Dog: Not at any coffee shops where I live. You might be able to get diner coffee for $3-something, tho.
@Mu Yixiao: To those that belittle your title I say turn your back and flip up your kilt.
All titles are pure social conventions and not based on anything real. King of England requires less talent and work than Homecoming Queen at my high school.
@Mu Yixiao: I received my title back in 2014. My plot is somewhere in the Highlands, I need to dig that out before our next trip there.
@Slugger: To be cynical, what percentage of “nobility” has been due to an ancestor or two bailing out the existing monarch from some debt or other, and what percentage was due to the ancestor having been the king’s bastard?
Sort of like how Matteo Visconti got started as the emperor’s vicar in Milan in exchange for a nice chunk of change.
@Jen:
I just got mine last night. I haven’t looked to see where it is, yet. But if I ever head that way (and I’d like to), I’ll have to see if it’s accessible.
I also bought a title for a friend of mine as her Christmas present. I just couldn’t resist.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I remember that incident as well, and how he got out of a libel suit connected to it.
IMO, even if a submarine of sorts would help, it’s extremely unlikely you can just develop, build, test, and deploy one in time to aid in an emergency where time is limited. No matter how Godly an Emperor of Mars and Phobos one happens to be.
More important, if it had been anything other than a stunt to get attention, St. Elon would have kept on developing his Teslasub as well as all other equipment and techniques necessary for whatever function it was intended for (exploration, rescue, etc.)
But of course it was one of history’s most ill-timed cheap attention stunts
@grumpy realist:
My family tree is peasants all the back, so… 🙂
@Sleeping Dog: @Just nutha:..mud madness…
Senior Coffee at the local MickeyD’s: 88¢. All you can drink. Free reliable internet WiFi.
@Mu Yixiao: Hey, I’ve got a little piece of land in Ireland — Islay, actually. Laphroaig gave it to me for signing up with their affinity club. Maybe we could do a vacation swap one day.
@Mister Bluster: “Senior Coffee at the local MickeyD’s: 88¢”
Is “senior coffee” what they call what’s left in the pot after a couple of hours?
@wr: Way back when, MIT had a “24 hr coffeehouse” which was notorious for what was left in the coffee pots at 4 AM. It was, however, quite useful if you were trying to pull an all-nighter.
@wr: IIRC, Islay is in Scotland. Famous wee island, home of Laphroaig and Lagavaulin.
@Jen:
Islay isn’t so wee; it’s the 8th largest island of the British Isles. It’s off the west coast of Scotland.
@grumpy realist:
When I was touring, we had what I referred to as “Crew coffee”. The performers’ concession stand would start coffee in a big urn at about 8:00 in the morning. During intermission of the 8:00pm show, I’d often go back and get a cup. The joke was to bring your knife so you could slice off how much you wanted. 🙂
@CSK:
Yeah, I know…was just trying to be genteel 🙂
@Jen:
On OTB???? Nonsense!!! 😀
@OzarkHillbilly: That whole episode was around the time I started wondering if Musk was losing it mentally, and if it was drug related.
Politicians, charities, universities, etc. solicit and receive donations, especially from the wealthy.
Occasionally, we later learn that donors do bad things.
In these circumstances, do the receiving entities have any social “obligations”?
If so, how are we to think about these obligations? Does it depend on the receiving entity? The donor’s bad thing? The amount of the donation? The time period? etc…
Well, it’s official, Trump will get away with everything. Garland wimped out and will appoint a special counsel. Coward.
@Michael Reynolds: if he was going to do that, the time to do that was February 2021. So, worse than coward — ineffective coward.
And, to add to the joy about the news concerning Garland, Adam Frisch has conceded to Lauren Boebert, says the Denver Post.
@Mimai: I’m mostly of the opinion that accepting money from awful people leaves them less money to do awful things with.
It’s why I have a fondness for the right wing grifters who stick to the grifting lane. Say what you will about Palin — she’s an awful human being — but she spent a decade after losing the 2008 election just grifting, with no interest in actually being involved in politics or promoting anything other than herself. She’s screwed up her legacy of grift by running for Congress, but I hope she loses and goes back to full time grift.
Farewell, good citizens. I am off to abuse the peasants.
See you Monday.
I dunno it seems like the appropriate response to a forthcoming Republican-controlled House, as well as to Trump’s announcement of candidacy.
You know who I would love to see named for this job? James Comey. That won’t happen, it’s too in the face for Garland. I expect someone with very long Republican credentials to get the job, though.
@Michael Reynolds: @Gustopher: @Jay L Gischer:
It’s Jack Smith.
@Mu Yixiao:
Is it too late to set up a pitchfork store in your Lordship’s land?
Have a good weekend.
@Kathy: As I noted in Thursday’s forum, Elon doesn’t actually have an area of expertise as far as we can tell. He lied about his credentials over and over again in order to farm reputation with the nerderati, but it’s all hot air.
So everything Elon does is outside his area of expertise.
@CSK:
My first reaction was “Who the hell is Jack Smith?
CNN has this. I’m too swamped with work to find out more.
@grumpy realist:
To me they come off more as 40-50 somethings with no real accomplishments who think the only reason they aren’t as rich as Musk is that the libs have being conspiring to keep their genius from the world. (Which is in one sense true, since daddy’s blood emerald mine is the only reason Musk isn’t just like them)
@JohnSF:
Mmhmm. Al Waleed bin Talal was a heavy participant in the deal, as was a segment of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
There are people here in the Valley – some of whom I count as friends – who believe that the best way to do heavy software development is with small teams who work crazy hours.
I am not one of them. If I worked for Twitter, I would have taken the package. If I hadn’t been laid off already, that is.
This is a totally anticipated response. Musk is not surprised by this. Investors (the private equity people, not The Street, remember) are also not surprised.
If you’re a heavy Twitter user, you are probably really alarmed and angry, and I don’t blame you.
@Jay L Gischer:
Even if that were the best way to develop software, people only agree to do it because they get a share of equity in a company they expect to be worth much more in a few years. Elon does not seem to be offering that and I don’t think a lot of people expect Twitter to be solvent, much less far more valuable, in a few years. So why would they work crazy hours for Elon Musk instead of someone else?
I’d also note there’s two types of companies: ones that see their workforce as a capital investment and ones that see their workforce as a production resource. Crazy hours is part of the latter, as they feel free to destroy their employees and just replace them with new people when they inevitably burn out.
@MarkedMan: Musk has been like that since well before the whole public pot stuff. Musk is a bit of a pet peeve of mine because too many “common people” think he’s utterly brilliant. That Musk through shear willpower built tesla and spaceX from the ground up all on his own.
I will give props to Musk though because he actually managed to build both Tesla and SpaceX up. He was smart enough to accept the government’s money and expertise.
@Jay L Gischer:
Rumor has it that more than a few of the now departed employees only didn’t resign because they were hoping to be laid off / terminated instead, in order to receive severance. The company as it now stands seems to define toxic workplace.
An observation by The Hoarse Whisperer@TheRealHoarse:
If it were to happen, so please the the goddesses, that the Iranian mullahocracy were to fall, a particularly nice cherry on the cake would be enabling the West to tell the Arabian princelings to go take a long stroll in the desert.
@Jamie:
Credentials are not all there is to an area of expertise. One can learn enough to become an expert outside of formal education settings.
I’m not claiming this is so for Elon The Destroyer of Twitter.
@Matt:
I first heard of Elon The Unfocused in connection with SpaceX in the mid-2000s. He struck me as someone who wanted to do something with his, then, millions other than accumulate more millions.
BTW, he “wasn’t smart enough to accept the government’s money and expertise,” as though these were offered to him and he might not known better than to accept. He went looking for them. Early in SpaceX’s history, the company sued NASA to be considered for contracting space launches and other related services. This was before even the first launch of a Falcon 1, never mind a successful one.
This is just common sense. The US government is one of the largest customers for space launch services.
@Michael Reynolds:
@Gustopher:
I don’t see how he had a choice after Trump announced his candidacy.
I guess we will see if some people are just too big to jail.
Pool idea…how long before the Crazy Caucus impeaches Garland? Biden?
@daryl and his brother darryl:
According to CNN, Trump’s lawyers were dreading that Garland would appoint a Special Master.
JohnSF, I wanted to respond to this yesterday, but it got late before I could get back to it. just nutha replied to you yesterday with a fair summary of my intent. And I’m not entirely sure where you and I are disagreeing. But let me elaborate on what I would like to see. (Want, not predict.)
We will almost certainly continue to have two and only two parties. Even if we go authoritarian, it will be electoral autocracy with the out party providing a façade of legitimacy. And our two parties will likely be called Republicans and Democrats, whatever they evolve into. But historically the normal configuration of our two parties has been a sun and moon relationship. In the last century Republicans dominated up to the Great Depression, then Ds dominated into the 70s and maintained an edge into the 90s. Since then, we’ve had rough parity. Through the W. Bush years, it very much felt like Rs were gaining dominance and Democrats were becoming the Washington Generals to the GOP Harlem Globetrotters, included in the game only because the rules require two teams.
I fear I’m not sure what you mean by “right wing liberalism”. Are you seeing their brand of populism as liberal? Is it a reference to classical liberalism, which many conservatives claim for themselves? Fiscally conservative, socially liberal? Sorry, I’m missing something here. GOPs might be able to find their way back to the center (~= median voter) by being a “conservative” rather than a reactionary party. (With caveats around how ill defined “conservative” is.)
What is driving my comments is a fear that much of the MSM, and perhaps the electorate, seem determined to see DeSantis as a return to respectable conservatism. As a Floridian, let me assure you he is not. And if DeSantis implodes or fizzles they’ll cast someone else in the role. WAPO recently did a list of who they see as the top ten GOP prez candidates. Bottom to top: Rick Scott, Sununnu, Pompeo, Haley, Cruz, Tim Scott, Youngkin, Pence, Trump, DeSantis. A couple of them haven’t been as bad as the rest, but good? Would you really vote for any of them over Biden, Harris, or any replacement level national Democrat?
Right now a vote for any GOP is a vote for McConnell’s agenda, McCarthy’s witch hunts, and MAGA. So no one should vote for any of them. But no, I don’t expect, or even want, no one to ever again vote for a GOP. But they’ve gone pretty far right, leaving the left and center open. And Dems have pretty much taken the center. What I would like to see is Ds become dominant for a while, forcing Republicans to wander in the wilderness, perhaps as a rural rump party, until they make themselves respectable again. But that won’t happen unless they play as the Washington Generals for a while. In your phrase a “placeholder party”.
@HarvardLaw92:
I don’t know anyone who works at Twitter, and know nothing specific about that situation. However, the strategy and idea you describe is common here when there are layoffs: Why just quit when you might get a package. I’ve been through a couple myself. I personally regard this cynicism as what emerges when your intentions to make cool things that lots of people see and like, and maybe make the world a little better get smashed to pieces. Which happens, too. I’ve been through that. I don’t necessarily disagree with the decisions that resulted in the smashing, in fact. It’s still wrenching. And well, “At least maybe I can get a package” is a thing that crosses your mind.
There’s another thing that happens here: retention bonuses. Again, I know nothing about Twitter in specific.
And the third factor is that people who work for Musk share his sense of mission. It isn’t about the money with Musk, it isn’t about the money for Tesla employees (not the ones here I know, anyway) and it probably isn’t that way with SpaceX.
I say these things because I am quite interested in understanding people as they understand themselves. That’s quite a different question than “would I do that?”.
I also write about this because “greedy techbros” is such a meme, and also a slander. There are greedy people here, for sure. Not all of them are male, either. And there are so many that are the most altruistic, and well, naive people you have probably ever met. Very smart, very good intentions, sometimes tools. I love these people, and want to protect them.
@Gustopher:
I may be misreading between the lines, but you seem to be talking about “bad receivers” of donations from “bad donors” — yes?
If so, that makes me wonder about the relative “badness” of what is done with the donated money. In this case, both the receivers and the donors are bad. So who’s to say which side will do the most bad with the money?
Or maybe that question is key to understanding the social obligations I mentioned in my initial post?
@Jay L Gischer:
Indeed. Self perspective-taking vs. Other perspective-taking. Both can be difficult to marshal, but in different ways. Especially difficult when other, um, considerations are at play.
@wr:..senior coffee…
When I was making my regular west coast drives to visit my brother and his family in Southern California, usually Thanksgiving or Christmas (one year I did both) Mickey D’s was a regular stop for coffee and comfort. Many times when I ordered the Senior Coffee (there were at least two Golden Arches that sold it for 25¢. Guymon in the Oklahoma panhandle on US Route 54 was one if memory serves.) they would say it was old and they would brew me new coffee.
“Did you make it today?” I’d ask “I’ll take whatever is left in the pot.”
They would give it to me gratis. I’d put my change in the bucket for the Ronald McDonald House.
It was better than the swill dispensed from the coffee vending machine in the old Illinois Central RR passenger depot for 25¢ at 3am in 1970 when I was waiting in my Carbondale Yellow Cab for the Panama Limited to arrive from New Orleans. That same vending machine sold tea, hot chocolate and potato soup. One night my curiousity got the best of me and I pushed the button for the potato soup. It was about what you would expect. Pulverised cardboard and chalk dust in warm water. It was a big deal for me and the other hacks when Denny’s came to town in 1971(?) The “Always Open” banner on their signpost meant we could get a decent cup of coffee at 4am. That same Denny’s was a victim of the disease. They tried to hold on over the last two years. The building was torn down last month.
Assorted questions on the current political landscape:
1) Can Jack Smith compel testimony from Cheeto Benito, and/or seize materials in his possession relevant to the investigation? Not sitting in the oval office makes a great deal of difference.
2) How should Democrats and people like Hunter Biden and Dr. Fauci handle the inevitable GQP House investigations?
2.1) Do Democrats sit on the committees or not?
2.2) Do the targets and witnesses testify when requested or subpoenaed, or should they obstruct, delay, and so on using the same arguments the Jan 6 conspirators employed?
Donald Trump told Fox that the appointment of the Special Master is “so unfair,” and he’s urging all Republicans to fight it.
Twitter provides plenty more evidence for those theories.
@Mu Yixiao: “There’s some lovely muck over here.”
@Mu Yixiao: “He must be a laird.”
“How do you know?”
He doesn’t have shit all over him.”
“If a special counsel was to be appointed, I can think of no-one better suited than Jack Smith. Vast experience prosecuting public corruption cases, treacherous national security violations, and crimes against humanity. Absorbs complex facts instantly. Perfect for Donald Trump.”
-Laurence Tribe
@gVOR08:
It’s that, from UK and European perspectives, the political antecedents of the Republican make them a very odd duck indeed.
They have a “liberal” ancestry in political theory, though not necessarily practice.
Regarding constitutionalism, equal citizenship (albeit for a sometimes restrictive value of “citizen”), free markets, equality of religious denominations, hereditary privilege.
In Europe their closest parallels are the German Free Democrats, Italian Liberals, and some “free marketeer” UK Conservatives.
This has changed, due first to the Spencerian/Sumnerian “social darwinist” influence in 19th century, and post-1950 growth of populism which became exponential with Trump.
But they still have a different feel to most European conservative, either Centrist or Right.
See e.g. German or Italian or Spanish Christian Democrats, French “Macronists”, UK both traditionalist and “One Nation” Conservatives.
Euro-Cons are often far more sceptical of markets, more open to countervailing action to correct wealth imbalances, more concerned for social stability, much more supportive of welfare state policies.
In some ways closer to the Jeffersonian right Democrat tradition maybe?
Anyway, the basic thing is, in the US, you are going to have people in the Republican tradition whose politics you are going to profoundly disagree with.
But I’d argue as long as they are prepared to operate within the bounds of recognising election result, and not overturning elections by violence, they can be acceptable actors and possibly open to at least some levels of co-operation and agreement on system management etc.
Whereas Trumpist MAGA insurrectionists are in violation of the base ground-rules of the system.
You can’t make deals with such; you can only defeat them.
Like the difference between an opponent in a card game and someone who pulls a weapon, overturns the table, and tries to leg it with the cash.
@gVOR08:
No way would I vote for any.
All are IMO complicit in violating the norms of the system, in failing to condemn the Jan 6 outrages and election denialist antics.
And especially not Ted Cruz, on account of even slimy, slithery slugs, who live in a slimy, smelly pond, think Ted Cruz is a bit too slimy. 🙂
As regards Biden, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat. I like Biden.
But he is a bit right wing for me. 🙂
Even AOC is probably bit rightish from my perspective, in some respects, LOL
Like nationalisation of some key industries, and a single national health service?
Have to admit, am guessing here: not really up on what left-Dem policy platforms are lately.
OTOH, I’m way off to the right in other respects: monarchy, established Church, House of Lords including hereditary element, I’m all happy with.
Basically, I’m a 1945 Labour Party throwback. 🙂
Atty General in AZ still not called:
https://twitter.com/Garrett_Archer/status/1593427262942040064
Lots of (D) ballots in Apache:
https://twitter.com/Garrett_Archer/status/1593685906078437376
Pima (Tucson) will likely be around 60%D/40%R.
So the big question: Does Hamadeh(R) do well enough in Maricopa to catch up?
@Kathy: I said he was smart enough to say yes. I”m not sure how you got “wasn’t” out of that.
I didn’t have my first contacts with SpaceX employees until after 2009. So I missed the fun of the 2005 lawsuit over Kistler Aerspace and NASA. In hindsight Musk and spacex had a good point with that lawsuit. The dismissal of the 2006 lawsuit was easily predicted even though SpaceX was right about the monopoly of Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. It’s just funny that they brought the lawsuit before they even launched anything so any potential damages were all theoretical. The company would of died by 2008 if not for DARPA and NASA stepping in to help. After the third rocket explosion NASA basically solved the problems while continuing to develop checklists and procedures for SpaceX. I’m pretty Tesla and the solar venture were also on the verge of bankruptcy during that era too.
So it kind of irritates me when people proclaim that Musk is a self made billionaire whose brilliance disrupted the markets without government “handouts”….
Holmes got 11 years, restitution to be determined.
Would that this were the end. I won’t be surprised if Princess Liz gets to wait out a long series of appeals at home with an ankle bracelet, just like all those poor people convicted, or sometimes even just indicted, of far lesser crimes get to do.
BTW, does anyone think it’s a coincidence Holmes was pregnant around the time her trial was supposed to start in 2020 (got delayed by COVID), and now again when it’s time for sentencing?
@Matt:
Basic misunderstanding, probably. I got the impression you said Elon was offered help and money and wasn’t a pig-headed libertarian business-first type who’d take no stinking money from the government.
That’s a lot of between the lines reading, I know. I’ve an overactive imagination 🙂
Well, two Republicans have answered Trump’s call to arms.” That would be Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andy Biggs.
More on Iran from Iran International English@IranIntl_En
.
If the mullahs and the IRG can’t control Qom they have really serious problems.
See also Farzad Seifikaran@FSeifikaran
As Alex Clarkson note, the Khamenei regime seems to be descending into the same sort of cycle as the collapse of the Shah:
And the increasing solidarity of young streetfighters, striking workers, ethnic minorities and middle class discontent and money.
Only absent group being the clerics; but actually some clerics have criticised the regime; some (variously described as liberals OR conservatives by Western media, actually more just old-fashioned) have never much liked being mired in governance.
And interesting that the Army (as opposed to IRG internal, religious police etc) seem to be still unwilling to intervene.
Key thing to watch for: any signs of IRG vs Army clashes.
For you MSM cynics, Politico has a Dems in array post up
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/18/house-dems-leadership-roles-pelosi-00069334
Someone in the headline dept has a sense of humor.
@Mimai: Taking money from bad people to do good things is an unalloyed good. Money is power, so you’re limiting the power of bad people.
Taking money from bad people to do petty, selfish or even less evil things is also good. There’s a right wing grift industry that ultimately acts like this. Selling gold to folks who watch Fox and would otherwise use that money to support Trump? Icky, but better than not doing so.
Unfortunately, the most prominent examples have tried to use the money to do evil. Palin running for office again, and the MyPillow guy advising the former President. Both spent years just slurping down the money, and I wish they kept at it.
This made me giggle. New York Times Pitch-bot:
@Gustopher:
Thanks, I appreciate the engagement. Especially because I don’t agree with (all of) the content of it.
@Gustopher:
If the average person can be assumed to be inclined to be at least somewhat bad, and I’m pretty sure I’m quite good, usually, albeit a bit selfish, does this mean it’s OK to take their stuff?
Asking for a friend.
Also, DYK if this line works with average magistrate? Thanx.
🙂
@Gustopher:
Cannot help having a mental picture of Mike Lindell in meetings with Trump, and ending every one trying to sell him, and the rest of the crew, a pillow.
@Sleeping Dog: Welp…
Your prediction was more right than mine.
“Especially my inability to get out of hard time in Club Fed.”
Ah yes…. The real victims, Rupert Murdoch and Betsy DeVos… Not pension funds and 401Ks.
My ex got sentenced to 7 years for DUI with all but 4 mos shock time suspended, than she fucked up and almost killed 2 people in a cross the median DWI accident. Her husband pulled some Crawford County local boy strings and managed to keep her parole officer from bringing the hammer down. Bad move. Really pissed off the Franklin County DA who got a hard on for her and she ended up doing the whole 7 years in Chillicothe.
In other words, Holmes had better mind her Ps and Qs.
@OzarkHillbilly:
OTOH, if she defrauded Betsy DeVos, surely that’s grounds for a smidgeon of clemency?
@JohnSF: In my book? She should be rewarded with a lesser sentence. But we all know that, “s/he who has the gold makes the rules.”
@Kathy:
Local zoning laws require a 10–foot set-back from the lot line. My land is 2.23 on each side.
If you can get zoning permission, and build a shop that has a width and length that are each negative 7.2 feet… go for it.
You will, of course, need the permission of the lord of the land in order to build any structures. That would be {looks it up in the land registry….} Me. Ummm… permission denied.
@JohnSF: Grift isn’t theft, it’s appealing to people’s worst qualities to get then to give you their money.
If the Proud Boys want to try to whitewash their image by donating to an animal shelter, I would have no concerns with the animal shelter taking the money. They will keep animals fed and doctored, and the Proud Boys have less money to spend on organizing, and you can avoid promoting the Proud Boys. It’s good.
If they are donating to PETA, which is annoying as hell, that’s less good, but still a net positive.
@Mimai: The only problem I see is when the grifters don’t stay in their lane, start believing their own story, and start acting on it — Palin and Lindell. I may be overestimating the cynical nature of the grifters, perhaps they are doomed to become true believers.
@Mu Yixiao:
And you nobles wonder why you end up with revolutions 😉
I thought that combining phlogiston and Pym particles should work. Now I won’t bother.
Back in 1996, Michael Moore’s TV Nation show wanted to see what candidates would accept donations from what ridiculous groups.
Everyone refused most of the donations… except Bob Dole. Bob Dole’s campaign accepted checks from groups like “Satanists For Dole,” “Republican Fear Mongers,” “Abortionists For Clinton” etc. When confronted, if memory serves, most campaigns returned what checks had slipped through… except Bob Dole.
The Dole campaign gave them a statement of something like “we’re keeping your money, and spending it on things you oppose.” I’m a little bit of a conservative at heart, because I liked that.
@Mu Yixiao:
Lord Moo rules the cows.
@JohnSF:
@gVOR08:
Harris would lose to all of the above. Every one of them.
@EddieInCA: Agreed.
So, what happens next?
@Jen:
If Trump is the nominee, Biden would beat him again. If someone else is the nominee on the GOP side, I’d be pushing a Newsom/Demmings ticket, or maybe Newsom/Whitmer. Trump would still beat many Dem candidates (Warren, Bernie, Klobuchar, Harris, Mayor Pete) even with all the BS surrounding him.
@JohnSF: So you don’t agree with Viscount Northcliffe, Alfred Harmsworth, who it is claimed said, “When I want a peerage I shall buy it like an honest man”?
Trump is really, really frightened of the new Special Master.
@Gustopher: I would happily rule allllll the Highland coo’s. 😛