Donald Trump isn’t the
real danger
to America –
it’s
Elon Musk• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Ма » Маск, Илон
Wednesday 13 November 2024 09:52 GMT
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Elon Musk• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Ма » Маск, Илон claims Trump won the election because he's 'a normal person'
J eff Bezos read it right. If you’re not going to fight a thug, then the best
course is surrender . You may never feature in the historic pantheon of the
great press barons , but, hey, you’ll live to fight another day.
Elon Musk• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Ма » Маск, Илон read it even better. Not so long ago, he was a mild Trump critic –
but he, too, worked out that the better course was to become a craven Trump
cheerleader . Literally. Now he sits at the right hand of God – and if that
prospect doesn’t terrify you, you’ve not been paying attention.
Musk could barely conceal his childish delight at being part of the mob . You
remember the surreal moment when he arrived at the front door of his newly
purchased Twitter• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на Tw » Twitter, Inc. bearing a kitchen sink ? Well, within hours of the Trump
victory becoming a reality, Musk posted a fake picture of himself inside the
Oval Office – holding, yes, a kitchen sink.
On Tuesday, the president• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США-elect appointed Musk to head the newly established
Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in his upcoming administration.
Trump also revealed that biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy will collaborate
with the SpaceX and Tesla CEO on this initiative — named with an acronym that
nods to Musk’s favorued cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта, Dogecoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Dogecoin — to “dismantle” bureaucratic
red tape.
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Cop29 is post-Brexit• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на Ев » Евросоюз » Выход Великобритании из Европейского Союза Britain’s• Великобритания chance to lead on climate action
I’m with Olivia Rodrigo - men liking space is an immediate red flag
I was the only pollster to predict the Trump landslide – this is how I did it
Trump will make Musk much richer. It’s calculated that the man-child could
personally benefit to the tune of $20bn (£15.4bn) through Tesla alone – and
that’s before the multibillion-dollar space contracts kick in. More worrying
is the combination of two such frankly weird characters bonding with each
other to preside over the free world, never mind the third musketeer – that
other fawning oddball, Robert F Kennedy Jr.
With customary foresight, Armando Iannucci chose this moment to launch a stage
version of the terrifying Cold War comedy classic Dr Strangelove . It tells
the story of a paranoid USAF general who believes that fluoridation of the
American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison its citizens and orders a
bombing attack on Moscow, setting the world on a path to a nuclear holocaust.
Ridiculously far-fetched. And yet there is something of the Strangelove about
the team poised to move into the White House• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США » Белый дом (США). RFK Jr celebrated Trump’s
victory by posting a promise that the new president• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США’s first act would be to
advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water, since (in
RFK’s view) fluoride is a silent killer. If only Peter Sellers were alive to
play all three characters.
Iannucci has particular contempt for Musk. “You can have fun at Musk’s
expense,” he said recently. “But I find it menacing that people in charge of
information are prioritising rumours and lies that conform to their point of
view.”
Musk has appointed himself the arbiter of speech for 350 million or more
people. He professes a childlike belief that truth will somehow win through in
the chaotic space that he has enabled. He has an almost obsessional disgust
for all mainstream media, telling the former Fox News propagandist Tucker
Carlson recently: “X is the one place you can find out the truth – the only
place.”
“You are the media now,” Musk posted to his 200 million followers as Trump
proclaimed victory. No, I’ve no idea what that means either, but he and his
fellow populists share the view that if you “flood the zone with s***” you
will overwhelm anyone’s ability to mediate information, and thereby disrupt
the way in which democratic societies have traditionally rooted themselves in
facts and reality. This technique has been called “manufactured nihilism”.
And people take him seriously. Last week, The Daily Telegraph• Средства массовой информации » Средства массовой информации Великобритании » Газеты Великобритании » The Daily Telegraph
• Средства массовой информации » СМИ-газеты » Газеты по странам » Газеты Великобритании » The Daily Telegraph splashed on a
single tweet from Musk in which he criticised Rachel Reeves’s proposed changes
to inheritance tax on some farmland, even though Musk’s real understanding of
almost anything about British life or politics could barely stretch to 280
characters.
More worrying is his tendency to act as a freelance operator in international
politics, blurring all lines between national security• Государство » Национальная безопасность
• Безопасность » Национальная безопасность, faux diplomacy and
personal gain.
The Wall Street Journal• Средства массовой информации » Средства массовой информации США » Газеты США » The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Musk had been in regular
contact with Russian president• Государство » Государственное устройство России » Президент Российской Федерации
• Россия » Государственное устройство России » Президент Российской Федерации
• Россия » Политика России » Президент Российской Федерации
• Политика » Политика России » Президент Российской Федерации Vladimir Putin• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Пу » Путин, Владимир Владимирович since late 2022, with their
discussions reported to touch on “personal topics, business• Экономика » Бизнес and geopolitical
tensions”.
Musk, who claims to have top-secret security clearance and has forged deep
business• Экономика » Бизнес ties with US military and intelligence agencies, was reportedly asked
by Putin• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Пу » Путин, Владимир Владимирович to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over
Taiwan as a favour to the Chinese leader Xi Jinping• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Си » Си Цзиньпин.
Musk’s Starlink programme is also critical to the war in Ukraine – and X is
awash with Russian disinformation campaigns. Musk is reported to have had
other conversations with Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin• Объект человек » Персоналии по алфавиту » Персоналии на Пу » Путин, Владимир Владимирович’s first deputy chief of
staff, who was accused by the US justice department last month of creating 30
internet domains, some on X, to spread Russian disinformation intended to
erode support for Ukraine and influence the US presidential election. Among
their tactics was to mimic real American media organisations, including The
Washington Post• Средства массовой информации » Средства массовой информации США » Газеты США » The Washington Post .
“This is a story about oligarch capture of the US,” said Fiona Hill, who
served as senior director for European and Russian affairs in the Trump White
House• Государство » Государственное устройство США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Политика » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Политика США » Политики США » Президент США » Белый дом (США)
• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) » Государственное устройство США » Президент США » Белый дом (США) and has been a defence adviser to the UK• Великобритания government.
“If people like Musk get Trump re-elected, they’ll expect all kinds of
regulatory gifts in their favour. He is in a position to command government
contracts, potentially with a government position, and there are loads of
militaries around the world dependent on his systems, not least Ukraine.”
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Well, Musk did – more than any other single individual – help Trump get
re-elected. He threw hundreds of millions of dollars in the service of Trump’s
re-election, and effectively put his social media platform at Trump’s
disposal. Meanwhile, he was reportedly in private secret communication with
America’s No 1 enemy, who is himself actively waging war against one of
America’s allies.
Bezos’s pre-emptive act of surrender damaged the reputation of a great
newspaper in the greater service of his other companies. Robert Kennedy Jr
will soon be forgotten. Trump 2.0, on the evidence of his most recent campaign
appearances, is a rambling, unfocused shadow of his former self. He will do
damage, for sure, but it may turn out that Musk is the one we should really
worry about.