RalphHightower · RalphHightower · Nov 27, 2024 · Nov 27, 2024
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
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 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, oligarch, politics]
+tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, oligarch, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), SpaceX, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Starlink]
 categories: [2024 presidential election]
 date: 2024-09-13 5:10 PM
 excerpt: "Musk is the latest example of a totally gearheaded, engineering-brained, Silicon Valley guy who looks at government and says ‘How hard can it be? Let me at it and I can solve it for you.' There’s been many of these characters before, and he’s just the latest."
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ September 8, 2024
 
 Former President [Donald Trump's](https://x.com/realdonaldtrump) plan to have [Elon Musk](https://x.com/elonmusk) lead a government efficiency commission would vault the world’s richest man to an unprecedented role: American oligarch.
 
-The details of the commission and [Musk's](https://x.com/elonmusk) involvement are still vague, but any formal role in government would give greater influence to the billionaire owner of Tesla, Space X, satellite company Starlink and the social media platform X — signature ventures that have benefited from federal contracts, tax credits and government incentives.
+The details of the commission and [Musk's](https://x.com/elonmusk) involvement are still vague, but any formal role in government would give greater influence to the billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX, satellite company Starlink and the social media platform X — signature ventures that have benefited from federal contracts, tax credits and government incentives.
 
 “This is like red lights blaring, all kinds of conflicts of interest,” said Danielle Brian, president of the Project on Government Oversight.
 Beyond the possible competing interests, [Musk](https://x.com/elonmusk)’s potential foray into government would represent a striking development for the tech titan, who would essentially have a role at the highest levels of business, manufacturing, media and Washington.

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, social media, X/Twitter, politics]
+tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, social media, X/Twitter, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)]
 categories: [2024 presidential election]
 date: 2024-10-08 11:45 AM
 excerpt: 'The man once seen as a real-life Tony Stark will now be known as the man who traded in his reputation and self-professed principles to bend the knee to Trump.'

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
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 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, United States, Russia, SpaceX, national security risk, politics]
+tags: [Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, United States, Russia, SpaceX, national security risk, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)]
 categories: [2024 presidential election, national security]
 date: 2024-10-27 2:20 PM
 excerpt: "“He’s a war criminal who is slaughtering civilians. That makes this wrong in my view. You have to decide what team you are on. Are you on the American team or are you on the Russian team?” – Michael McFaul, former US Ambassador to Russia"

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, national security risk, politics]
+tags: [Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, national security risk, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Starlink]
 categories: [2024 presidential election]
 date: 2024-11-01 9:44 AM
 excerpt: '“The policy of the U.S. government is to try to isolate Vladimir Putin, and Elon Musk is directly undercutting that. What is Putin doing with Musk? Putin is trying to reduce his international isolation and impact American foreign policy.” – Bradley Bowman, a former West Point assistant professor who is now senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies'
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ title: 'The Manchurian Candidate Musk: Engaging In Talks With Putin, As Has Trum
 
 ## [Here's a look at Musk's contact with Putin and why it matters / AP News](https://apnews.com/article/musk-putin-x-trump-tesla-election-russia-9cecb7cb0f23ccce49336771280ae179)
 
-By  DAVID KLEPPER and LISA MASCARO
+By DAVID KLEPPER and LISA MASCARO
 Updated 5:35 PM EDT, October 25, 2024
 
 - **Musk-Putin Contacts**: Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the past two years, discussing personal matters, business, and geopolitics.
@@ -26,31 +26,31 @@ Musk owns the following:
 - SpaceX. National security risk as a major government contractor supplying [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/) with launch services and crew flights to the [International Space Station - NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/).
 - Starlink. Satellite constellation proving communication and internet services.
 - X/Twitter. A social media network that has become:
-    - Propaganda machine for Trump;
-    - Russian outlet for election misinformation, myths to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election;
-    - Conspiracy nutjobs such as [@MTG](https://greene.house.gov), conspiracy theories;
-    - cesspool of bigotry and hate speech.
+  - Propaganda machine for Trump;
+  - Russian outlet for election misinformation, myths to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election;
+  - Conspiracy nutjobs such as [@MTG](https://greene.house.gov), conspiracy theories;
+  - cesspool of bigotry and hate speech.
 
 Musk's Foreign Influencers:
 
 - Presents a national security risk, given his companies’ work for the government
 - X/Twitter:
-    - has provided Russian a method to interfere with American politics,m
-    - conspiracy theories
-    - source for the far right
+  - has provided Russian a method to interfere with American politics,m
+  - conspiracy theories
+  - source for the far right
 - dumped millions of dollars into Trump’s campaign
 - During one call, Putin asked Musk not to activate his Starlink satellite system over Taiwan as a favor for Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose ties to Putin have grown closer. The request from Putin on Starlink as a favor to China is likely to get attention, given U.S. support for Taiwan and concerns about the growing partnership between the Kremlin and Beijing.
 - On Ukraine:
-    - Musk’s views have shifted since he initially supported Kyiv following Russia’s 2022 invasion
-    - provided it with his Starlink system for communications.
-    - Musk then refused to allow Ukraine in 2023 to use Starlink for a surprise attack on Russian soldiers in Crimea.
-    - also floated a peace proposal that would have required Ukraine to drop plans for NATO membership
-    - given Russia permanent control of Crimea, which it seized in 2014. The plan infuriated Ukrainian leaders.
-    - Last year, Musk mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for aid
-    - said in February that Ukraine couldn’t win the war.
+  - Musk’s views have shifted since he initially supported Kyiv following Russia’s 2022 invasion
+  - provided it with his Starlink system for communications.
+  - Musk then refused to allow Ukraine in 2023 to use Starlink for a surprise attack on Russian soldiers in Crimea.
+  - also floated a peace proposal that would have required Ukraine to drop plans for NATO membership
+  - given Russia permanent control of Crimea, which it seized in 2014. The plan infuriated Ukrainian leaders.
+  - Last year, Musk mocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for aid
+  - said in February that Ukraine couldn’t win the war.
 - China:
-    - Tesla operates Gigafactory Shanghai, has developed a close relationship with China’s leaders. His remarks about China have been friendly.
-    - He has suggested Taiwan cede some control to Beijing by becoming a special administrative region.
+  - Tesla operates Gigafactory Shanghai, has developed a close relationship with China’s leaders. His remarks about China have been friendly.
+  - He has suggested Taiwan cede some control to Beijing by becoming a special administrative region.
 
 Trump:
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Moscow has growing ties to other American adversaries. The U.S. has accused Russ
 “The policy of the U.S. government is to try to isolate Vladimir Putin, and Elon Musk is directly undercutting that. What is Putin doing with Musk? Putin is trying to reduce his international isolation and impact American foreign policy.”
  Bowman said.
 
-Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Musk “a once-in-a-generation industry leader” whose ideas could benefit “our broken federal bureaucracy[^51]. As for Putin, there’s only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it’s President Trump  President Trump has long said that he will re-establish his peace through strength foreign policy to deter Russia’s aggression and end the war in Ukraine.”
+Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Musk “a once-in-a-generation industry leader” whose ideas could benefit “our broken federal bureaucracy[^51]. As for Putin, there’s only one candidate in the race that he did not invade another country under, and it’s President Trump President Trump has long said that he will re-establish his peace through strength foreign policy to deter Russia’s aggression and end the war in Ukraine.”
 
 [^51]: Elon Musk, as self-declared "nona-manager", has no inside experience with government.
 

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
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 layout: post
-tags: [billionaires, campaign contributions, Elon Musk, Bill Ackermann, Warren Buffet, Robert Johnson, Winklevoss (Cameron & Tyler), Miriam Adelson, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreesen, Ben Horowitz, Ike Perlmutter, Richard Uihlein, Jamie Dimon, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Jeff Bezos, politics]
+tags: [billionaires, campaign contributions, Elon Musk, Bill Ackermann, Warren Buffet, Robert Johnson, Winklevoss (Cameron & Tyler), Miriam Adelson, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreesen, Ben Horowitz, Ike Perlmutter, Richard Uihlein, Jamie Dimon, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Jeff Bezos, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)]
 categories: [2024 presidential election]
 date: 2024-11-02 4:50 PM
 excerpt: "With Trump, there is no such thing as an ironclad deal that doesn’t benefit him personally. His appetite for retribution is well-established, and any slight or perceived disloyalty is enough to curry his disfavor."

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, million dollars sweepstakes, politics]
+tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, million dollars sweepstakes, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)]
 categories: [2024 presidential election]
 date: 2024-11-05 2:40 PM
 excerpt: "“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” Krasner testified Monday morning. “That’s what it is. A grift. They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.” – Philadelphia District Attorney"

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [president-elect, Donald Trump, constitutional amendments, politics, first amendment, freedom of speech, freedomof press]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [president-elect, constitutional amendments, politics, first amendment, freedom of speech, freedom of press]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-06 1:43 PM
 excerpt: “I know I told you that I would be covering the Trump election night party from Palm Beach but turns out I have pissed off Trump’s campaign manager with my reporting and they decided to deny my credentials. I have been honest and fair this entire time covering this election and I will be now broadcasting in studio with Brian Williams from LA.” Tara Palmeri – Puck"
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, revenge, retribution, political enemies, politics]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [revenge, retribution, political enemies, politics]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-06 10:53 AM
 excerpt: "Many Trump supporters dismissed the threats as campaign rhetoric aimed at whipping up his base. They noted that his exhortations against his enemies only rarely led to action during his first four years in office. But others — including some of Trump’s closest advisers — have warned ominously that he’s far more likely to follow through in a second term. He won’t be inhibited by the need to run for reelection. He will be emboldened by a Supreme Court ruling that grants presidents broad immunity from criminal accountability after they leave office. And he is expected to be surrounded by aides more willing to dispense with norms to carry out his wishes. @RalphHightower: Trump does not like being told that his idea is wrong, or worse, stupid. His advisers will be staffed with sycophants, brown nosers, ass kissers, boot lickers, and acolytes, yes men."
 

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, NRLB, NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Labor Relations Board, politics, federal government graft]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, NRLB, NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Labor Relations Board, politics, federal government graft]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-07 1:31 PM
 excerpt: '"The relationship that Elon Musk has with the federal government is unprecedented." – Stephen Diamond, a professor at Santa Clara University Law School'
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, autocracy, kleptocracy, united states, politics]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [autocracy, kleptocracy, united states, politics]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-08 3:47 PM
 excerpt: "In 2016, we could all pretend that Trump was an aberration. Not this time. People knew exactly what they were voting for. Democracy just isn’t that high on the list of priorities. The likely chaos of the last two years of Trump’s upcoming term may become fertile ground for a populist demagogue. A billionaire who flouts the laws that apply to everyone else and hands out pardons and special deals to his cronies while ordinary people suffer is a tempting foil if you want to whip up popular anger. For 250 years we have had this quaint notion that democracy was an end in itself. But all good autocrats know that democracy is just a tool to be discarded when it’s no longer useful."
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, deploy military US soil, enemy within, politics, Trump politicizing American military on US soil against citizens]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [deploy military US soil, enemy within, politics, Trump politicizing American military on US soil against citizens]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-08 5:58 PM
 excerpt: 'The thought of Trump exacting retribution by politicizing the American military should terrify us all.'
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, Elon Musk, kickbacks, political favors, AI, Tesla, H1B Visa, skilled immigrants, electric vehicles, autonomous driving, China, Starlink, politics]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [Elon Musk, kickbacks, political favors, AI, Tesla, H1B Visa, skilled immigrants, electric vehicles, autonomous driving, China, Starlink, politics, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC)]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-10 4:56 PM
 excerpt: "The Tesla CEO played a pivotal role in securing a second Trump presidency. Here’s where he stands on the issues."
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, revenge, enemy within, wacky ideas, conspiracy theories, politics]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [revenge, enemy within, wacky ideas, conspiracy theories, politics]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-11 8:27 PM
 excerpt: "He has suggested potential prosecutions of many dozens of political foes. He tried to target his political foes plenty in his first term — often privately and without the investigations leading to charges. He might be less burdened by the propriety of that this time around. Trump has regularly claimed that the Biden administration is behind his own criminal prosecutions, even as there’s no evidence of political influence. He says he has “every right” to seek prosecutions himself."
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [enemy within, deploy military on US citizens, video, politics, Donald Trump]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [enemy within, deploy military on US citizens, video, politics]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-12 2:35 PM
 excerpt: 'The Associated Press had a related report on this, taking stock of the bigger picture: “During his first term as president, Donald Trump tested the limits of how he could use the military to achieve policy goals. If given a second term, the Republican and his allies are preparing to go much further, reimagining the military as an all-powerful tool to deploy on U.S. soil.”'
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [First Amendment, Free Speech, X-Twitter, Elon Musk, social media, politics]
+tags: [First Amendment, Free Speech, X-Twitter, Elon Musk, social media, politics, Tesla, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)]
 categories: [Elon Musk]
 date: 2024-11-12 5:08 PM
 excerpt: "“Elon Musk is an incredibly thin-skinned man who’s incapable of taking honest criticism, even when based on verifiable facts, and has already weaponized courts to try and punish his perceived enemies. We live in a country of checks and balances, and we have faith in our judicial system and in the freedoms afforded to us by the Constitution,” Ahmed said."

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Donald Trump, 2025 cabinet picks, fealty, sycophants, John Bolton, politics]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [2025 cabinet picks, fealty, sycophants, John Bolton, politics]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-13 3:11 PM
 excerpt: "“I do think there’s a group of people who think that they are going to be able to screen out people, not on the basis of philosophy so much as on their attitude toward the president. And the word loyalty is often used. I think that’s the wrong word. Actually, I think what [Trump](https://x.com/realdonaldtrump) wants from his advisors is fealty, really a futile sense of subservience. And you know, he may get that, but I will tell you that that will not serve him well over the course of his next term, and it certainly won’t serve the country well.” – John Bolton, 
 Bolton"

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: post
-tags: [Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, sycophants, politics, 2025 Trump Administration, Department Of Government Efficiency, Donald Trump]
-categories: [2024 post election]
+tags: [Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, sycophants, politics, 2025 Trump Administration, Department Of Government Efficiency]
+categories: [Donald Trump]
 date: 2024-11-15 11:06 AM
 excerpt: "Social media users were quick to point out some of the programs that received funding despite lacking current Congressional authorization. One is the Veterans’ Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996, which helps provide funding for veterans’ medical care. The authorization expired in 1998, but still receives about $120 billion in funding. It was hardly the only notable agency that could see a funding stream tried up. Others included a bill that helped NASA and the International Space Station."
 #image: 'BASEURL/assets/blog/img/.png'