DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Elon Musk

Throw a link up, then (or something more substantive than 'maybe this happened and maybe the other side did it').

You say you're not excusing, but responding to something Musk has done (with his profile and reach) with the actions of the dregs of the internet is no better.

Alright, this I can get behind. No arguments here, but my problem is that folks that did vote for Trump seem to want to ignore/handwave this type of stuff. This (the link DL posted) is what that group voted for. They gotta own it.
The pres is the exec, and their primary job is surround themselves with good and competent do'ers. You can't tell me, with a straight face, that the top levels of our government aren't about to get WAY more incompetent and/or corrupt. Must is arguably the MOST competent of the ones that have been announced, and he's gearing up to do our govt like he did Twitter.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/10/27/year-of-musk-x-faces-slashed-valuation-and-fewer-advertisers-one-year-after-twitter-takeover/#:~:text=X%2C%20formerly%20known%20as%20Twitter,policies%2C%20and%20broken%20technology.%E2%80%9D

It's hard to do an apples-apples comparison on Twitter pre/post acquisition (Elon took Twitter private so stock price is no longer a convenient metric, as flawed as it is). My understanding is 3rd party valuations are the best tool we have to see how Elon has done with his investment. And by those metrics, it's been an unmitigated disaster. Even scarier, this type of transaction has historically been Musk's strength (he acquired and combined small companies to make Paypal, I believe he did the same for SpaceX, and bought his way into Tesla (effectively purchasing the founder status he now has) and grew it into what it is today proving that he has an eye for savvy business acquisitions.

The problem is that he's lost his damn mind over the past 10'ish years and govt isn't a company. There's no stock price to improve and hang your hat on, and his attempt and leaning out Twitter has done far more bad than good. Our best case scenario is that this whole DOGE nonsense is just another grift allowing Elon to further enrich himself and not really affect how govt functions.

I wouldn't joke about your safety, or anyone elses for that matter.

However, the article said nothing about people receiving threats, let alone death threats, it said they were afraid they would. I think you read it wrong. If I missed it, let me know. All these articles are slanted to elicit a response that often doesn't fit actual facts.


Just curious, because I always respect your POV (though seldom agree j/k 🤣), do you like any of Trump's appointments so far?

There is nothing new about special prosecutors being appointed. Especially in a case such as this. Appointing someone outside of the DOJ, someone who has previously prosecuted democrats was a way to show impartiality. Of course even that didn't work and it was turned into some kind of conspiracy theory by the right wing. And Smith had no control over national policy. These two examples being similar only exist in your mind.

I copied a hateful far right post about Biden, Changed the names to read Trump instead and posted that. 12 hours later, my X post is gone, the one about Biden is still up. Things that make you say, “Hmmm”.

Happy birthday FATE. Rubio wasn’t a bad choice. Wasn’t that good either.

I’m not sure little Marco is big enough to fill hose shoes, but at least he’s not a complete idiot and used to own a decent streak. That said, I don’t think Trump wants competent people in his cabinet. He wants yes men, qualifications be damned. He even wants to bypass congressional consent. He doesn’t want background vetting by the FBI on any of his picks. But hey, what could possibly go wrong? It’s not like he’ll put on a bunch of pedophiles, rapists, and criminals. Maybe a half dozen or more, but who’s counting…

OK...but...how is he qualified for the job again????


-Break-

Happy Birthday, my friend.

I'll have to go back and recheck. Maybe I did read it wrong. That being said, I do work in a place where I have a bomb threat questionnaire next to my phone, which isn't exactly fun. We have also been seeing an uptick in far right domestic terrorism threats, which is true.

There are a couple of them that actually aren't bad. The DOGE thing is a joke. I'm willing to bet that even you think Gaetz was a horrific pick. Gabbard sucks given her history, especially with Assad. Hegseth would essentially be my boss. He has absolutely no business being in that role. Hagel (Obama appointment) is the worst I've worked for so far. I think Hegseth has the potential to leapfrog him.

All that being said, it doesn't appear that Trump's appointees historically last long, so I really don't know what to expect in terms of their "durability."

Sure. You are always going to have bureaucrats. I was one, you are one. I suppose that anybody working in a government function is a member of the bureaucracy. To be fair, I know that people are talking about people in decision making/ policy making levels and not the folks doing the everyday mundane tasks necessary for any entity to function.



I was simply trying to tell Pit, who was questioning how/why they got those positions without being elected. You know as well as I do that very few people who work in government were ever elected to anything. They hired in or were possibly appointed to a position. In many cases they are people who hold special skills and talents which would be impossible to have enough if you had to wait see them elected.

Thanks Perfect. 👊
Thanks to you as well Dawglover. 🫵

Which is part of the overwhelming point here. In many of these appointments the exact opposite is true.

That is just a matter of opinion. Your opinion and others might differ.

Not having the experience for the jobs they have been appointed to isn't an opinion.

Can you tell me "in your opinion" how resume' makes him qualified to be in charge of the defense department? He has no executive experience at all in his background. He was let go from two previous jobs with the Koch-backed group Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) and the “AstroTurf” billionaire-backed Vets for Freedom (VFF).

So we can start with him and move on from there. He was of course a FOX News political commentator but I'm not sure how that helps anything.

It will be interesting to hear how you think someone with zero executive experience should be in charge of an 850 billion dollar defense budget.

jc


i dont want to hear any complaints about money in politics. we got billionaires directly in charge of our government that the majority of americans wanted.

Oligarchy on full display. Shameful stealing of an election by Elon. Biden should strip him of citizenship and deport his ass.

Which election did Elon steal?

The most recent. Already proven he controlled X to favor Putin’s Orange bitch. Do whatever you want with that, I don’t value your takes.

Huh... interesting.. So yer saying elections can be stolen?

Only the ones his puppet-candidate loses.

Musk didn’t steal anything, although he bought his way into the inner circle. He’s the gravy train for Trump.

Anyways I think Musk would actually do really good things as Secretary of transportation. Just a gut feeling.

Yes, by the richest man in the world. He used his platform to dupe America in true Trumpian fascists style. If I had my way, everyone involved with helping Trump win would swing.

How very caring for democracy that is.

“America was never a democracy” That’s what trumpians have been saying since Jan 6th 2020.

Whinging about "our democracy" has been a constant drone for a decade. You are correct though, we are a republic.

Zero experience? In what way? Part of this is to bring in some common sense to the matter. All of this 'experience" as you seem to think has led to billions of wasted dollars....the DOD has failed I don't know how many audits. I don't know how Pete can do any worse than the people you think have done a good job.

I do know he is about the person on the ground. We even have a solid poster on the board who works for the DOD who has on multiple occasions talked about the waste in the dept.

Sounds like you’re agreeing that he does not have the experience, but because Trump wants him, it’s ok…

That why there is a confirmation process.

I agree about the confirmation process. If he doesn't make it, he doesn't make it. I just push back on the qualification issue. We have had many DOD secretary's who weren't what some might consider top military commanders.

Thanks Peen. It's certainly an issue and audits are a red herring. They take away from where the waste actually is. If people want to open their eyes, just google Transdigm hearing 2021 and it tells you everything you need to know when you watch that hearing. It really ties a bow around DoD's issues in a nutshell.

That being said, I don't see anything from Hegseth that demonstrates he's willing to take on industry. It seems like he's -thankfully to me - on the outs anyhow. There have been rumblings of DeSantis as his replacement. He also was not higher ranking in the military, and it seems like he devotes a lot of his time to chasing headlines and "fighting woke." I don't see anything from him either that would demonstrate he would reign in the waste either.

We need to appoint someone who isn't a political hack - and that goes for the Dems too when they make their appointments. People we haven't even heard of would do well. I would prefer it to be a former four star, who then pledges to appoint people to undersecretary positions focused on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. One person I personally know would be perfect in that undersecretary role, and he's also a Browns fan...(it's not me, by the way).

But honestly, all the public sees are the headlines. Even simplest things like changing baseline contracts from firm-fixed-price to fixed-price-incentive-firm, with literally no other terms or conditions changing whatsoever, would save billions.

There are so many things that need to be done and/or can be done easily, but the general voting public focuses on all the wrong things, and that's not by mistake.

One thing to add, the Transdigm hearings are long, but a better, cliff note display of the DoD's issues would be rewatching that 60 Minutes exposé. That hit everything on the head, too.

We did have one very good negotiator at a high level, who was then dubbed "The Most Hated Man in the Pentagon" in Shay Assad, who I have actually briefed personally on several efforts over the years. He was, ahem, "ousted" by higher-ups in the Pentagon around 2018 by people who now work for industry........

The person who is now in the Defense Pricing, Contracting and Policy (DPCAP) role is who I was referring to before. He is brilliant, and is actually a friend of mine, and mentored me in my early years in DoD. If he ran for President, I would not hesitate to vote for him in a second...but guys like him never grab the headlines.

I just mentioned Transdigm in the other thread. During the hearings that Khanna mentions, one of which he chaired, Republicans provided a rather nauseating defense of what Transdigm did, Comer especially, but Gibbs in Ohio was sickening as well. Same with Jordan. So, to that point, if they can call the contractors to carpet, I would be more than glad at their initiative to do that. However, eliminating the federal workforce that negotiates against said contractors would be counterproductive.

That being said, it appears the Democrats are employing the strategy of potential wedge driving here, which tactically makes a lot of sense. If DOGE does go after defense contractors, Republicans will provide SIGNIFICANT resistance, and lobby Trump to shut it down. I feel 100% confident in that hypothetical. On the flipside, if DOGE reneges on eliminating waste to DOD contractors, that would also give Dems a decent stockpile of ammunition.

It really shouldn't even be a partisan issue, but we obviously know that everything, down to what toothpaste you use, has now become political.

All you have done is show that in fact he does not have the experience to run the defense department. You've tried to make excuses for that but in the end, you've shown he isn't fit. According to you every man who has served in the military is qualified to fill that role because you know "I do know he is about the person on the ground." I would say that would be true for every member of the military that ever served.

" Part of this is to bring in some common sense to the matter. All of this 'experience" as you seem to think has led to billions of wasted dollars....the DOD has failed I don't know how many audits."

And you want someone in charge that has zero experience on how to fix that.

I'm not sure who you were suggesting when you said they were a Browns fan, but if it was Condi I would agree based on the limited information I have.

He said "he", so unless there was some big news I'm unaware of, it can't be Condi.

Haha, no not Condi, although I forgot she was a Browns fan. He's a dude I know from Independence, OH initially.

There's a lot of big news you have seemed to at least act as though you are unaware of but that's not one of them.

Next year is going to be fun to watch.

Considering who trump nominated for the job, you would be much better qualified and know the process better.