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Should folks do as Trump's efficiency czar (oh how I love to use that word) Musk sez or as Trump's new FBI director sez? 
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Battle Royale!One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry. -
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven WeinbergComment
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Musk is totally a free speech absolutist:
(2022 article)BlahComment
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...and his Doge thing is truly Trumpian:
snipsnapped from:When Elon Musk’s cost-cutting drive, the so-called “department of government efficiency (Doge), posted its “wall of receipts” boasting of major savings to the federal budget, the list was billed as the proud public interface of a radical shake-up of the US government.
Instead, like much of Musk’s unprecedented engagement with the federal bureaucracy, the initiative has been mired in errors, confusion and obfuscation.
In the latest embarrassment to befall the site, Doge has stealthily expunged all of the five largest items on the “wall of receipts” after the much-vaunted “savings” were revealed to be so much hot air.
The deletions, first reported by the New York Times, were made on Tuesday without explanation. A White House spokesperson would only say that Musk’s slash-and-burn initiative had “identified billions of dollars in savings”.
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It has been revealed by Musk and fellow Republicans that Musk is not to blame for Doge job cuts:
full: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...orkers-firingsElon Musk is telling Republican lawmakers in private meetings that he is not to blame for the mass firings of federal workers that are causing uproar across the country, while Donald Trump reportedly told his cabinet secretaries on Thursday that they are ultimately in charge of hiring and firings at their agencies – not billionaire aide Musk.
The two powerful figures appeared to be making parallel efforts to distance Musk from radical job slashing made over the last two months. This is despite the tech entrepreneur boasting about cuts, recommending the US “delete entire agencies” and taking questions on the issue alongside the US president, then wielding a chainsaw at an event to symbolize his efforts – all amid legal challenges and skepticism from experts.
Musk said in private talks with lawmakers who are experiencing blowback from constituents angry over the firings of thousands of federal workers, including military veterans, that such decisions are left to the various federal agencies, the Associated Press reported.
Despite copious evidence that Musk has acted as if he has the authority to fire federal workers, the representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who leads the House Republicans’ campaign arm, said on Thursday: “Elon doesn’t fire people.”
“He doesn’t have hiring and firing authority,” Hudson said after a meeting with Musk over pizza in the basement of the US Capitol in Washington DC. “The president’s empowered him to go uncover this information, that’s it.”
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I'm totally concerned that Doge is inefficient
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I am shocked at this surprising turn of events.Instead, like much of Musk’s unprecedented engagement with the federal bureaucracy, the initiative has been mired in errors, confusion and obfuscation.Libraries are state sanctioned, so they're technically engaged in privateering. - Felch
I thought we're trying to have a serious discussion? It says serious in the thread title!- Al. B. SureComment
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Fact is we have Musk who is a case of survivorship bias par excellence who doesn't realise this. I mean, he had backing from his rich family and had projects seemingly altruistic enough where the people around him did heavy lifting *despite* Musk who, by all reports, was someone who just needed to be managed (such a common phenomenon here). This all starts to crack a bit when it comes to Xitter, for example, where there is no grand mission. Again, he possibly lucked out againbecause it became his vehicle of propaganda. It's the zenith of Dunning Kruger.
However these people have developed a cult of personality around them and conflated their luck with ability. And not just ability but superiority. And in a Darwinian sense.
So he (and I suspect Trump) have ended up with a messiah complex where they think they are infallible. And let's face it, due process of the US has not helped this...by Trump being immune to consequence you've finalised their metamorphosis into this state,
Now they believe they are such talented übermensch, and they have such a cultish loyalty around them (I mean, the way their addled minds U-turn and yet these people still follow them, and their position changing like the wind, loyally and without question). I mean you only have to look at some of our fellow posters here to see how much (I would say Geronimo, for example, is rather trying to reconcile this new reality with his worldview, but the two are quite incompatible. I wouldn't say he is lost). And they are trying to shape the system around them (worth checking up on the whole dark enlightenment technofeudalism thing, the architect of which is the person who thrust Vance into his current position) with this fervent, unshakeable belief that it will be genuinely better, and that they know better. They think it is worth destroying all to rebuild in their image with their little fiefdoms of control in their mega-corporations. Whereas in reality it threatens the whole fabric of society.
But therein lies their weakness, hubris and total self-belief. Even when they massively screw up royally there's always an excuse, it's always, somehow, someone else's fault. And this philosophy has led Musk to believe that all of his actions are infallible and can't be anything other, which is why he is so dangerous. He's wildly pulled pieces out of a Jenga stack and even now, no one quite understands the structural implications of this. The slightest challenge and...bang. This infallibility in Trump has already started to show. Declaring economic warfare on the rest of the world, all at the same time maybe his Operation Barbarossa. Like Hitler, his downfall was hubris and a real belief in his superiority. Creating conditions where you have created a rapid, mass wave of unemployment in the public sector (with nary any support) because of this view that these people are parasites (the typical dehumanisation that we see taking place of various groups during the rise of a fascist regime), then at the same time undermining the pinnings of US economic success (tariffs across the board, from everywhere, being hostile to your friends resulting in widespread boycotts of your products on a global scale, and Canada's boycotts are spreading) are a powderkeg. And the whole instability of Trump and (tariffs today, no tariffs tomorrow, love Putin today, sanctions, maybe, tomorrow) is toxic to any kind of economic stability and thus success. Because these people can't believe they can do any wrong, it's always someone else's fault.
An important lesson to all in this, especially the US, is to not start believing your own propaganda. Once it has seeped into the minds of the Trumps of this world, therein lies disaster.Last edited by Provost Harrison; March 8, 2025, 07:21.Speaking of Erith:
"It's not twinned with anywhere, but it does have a suicide pact with Dagenham" - Linda SmithComment
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there must be a way shake the confidence and hubris. The sooner the better for literally everyone. I take back what I said about the boycott. It is indeed as bad as tariffs, but these fools may not be as unshakeable as the real pros like Putin and right now anything that will break their delusions of control and invincibility may be exactly what they need. Most important of all may be quickly disillusioning the base which will surely require many tools and tons of effort at all levels.Comment
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Self-proclaimed freedom-of-speech-absolutist Musk called Senator Kelly a traitor for supporting Ukraine. But it remains unclear what he thinks of his own company now, after Tesla spoke out against Trump tariffs:
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker Tesla (TSLA.O) has warned that it and other major American exporters are exposed to retaliatory tariffs that could be leveled in response to President Donald Trump's aggressive use of tariffs.
The Tesla comments reflect those of many U.S. businesses concerned by Trump's tariffs, but is notable because it is from Tesla.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump, has been leading the White House effort to shrink the size of the federal government. The billionaire heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The comments were made in a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative's Office and available on the office's web site, opens new tab. Dated Tuesday, it is among hundreds sent by companies to the office about U.S. trade policy.
It is not clear who at Tesla wrote the letter, which is unsigned but is on a company letterhead. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Tesla says it is important to ensure that the Trump administration's efforts to address trade issues "do not inadvertently harm U.S. companies."
It says it is eager to avoid retaliation of the type it faced in prior trade disputes, which resulted in increased tariffs on electric vehicles imported into countries subject to U.S. tariffs.
"U.S. exporters are inherently exposed to disproportionate impacts when other countries respond to U.S. trade actions," Tesla said in the letter. "For example, past trade actions by the United States have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries."
Trump is considering imposing significant tariffs on vehicles and parts made around the world in early April.
Tesla warns that even with aggressive localization of the supply chain, "certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the United States."
The automaker adds that companies will "benefit from a phased approach that enables them to prepare accordingly and ensure appropriate supply chain and compliance measures are taken."
"As a U.S. manufacturer and exporter, Tesla encourages USTR to consider the downstream impacts of certain proposed actions taken to address unfair trade practices," the EV maker says.
Autos Drive America, a trade group representing major foreign automakers including Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab, Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), opens new tab, BMW (BMWG.DE), opens new tab, Honda (7267.T), opens new tab and Hyundai (005380.KS), opens new tab, warned USTR in separate comments that imposing "broad-based tariffs will disrupt production at U.S. assembly plants."
The group added, "automakers cannot shift their supply chains overnight, and cost increases will inevitably lead to some combination of higher consumer prices, fewer models offered to consumers and shut-down U.S. production lines, leading to potential job losses across the supply chain."
Last edited by BeBMan; March 14, 2025, 08:18.BlahComment
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I think voters should mail the WH/Doge and demand a list of their achievements over X days.
Surely the taxpayer may want to know how often meals are thrown against the walls (which are then made nice again using taxpayer money).
Or how often Donald cheated in golf during work hours. Like all hard-working Americans can do *cough*.
Efficiency, Shmefficiency.
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