Republicans have been (inaccurately) screaming “BIASED!” at our media and justice system for so long that no one will ever take an action to call out or prosecute republican election interference no matter how blatant or illegal. They’re cowards. And evil actors are emboldened by cowardice. They probe to see what they can get away with, and when they succeed, they go for more. They’re going to steamroll all over democracy and they’re going to win (eventually) because democrats have no fight in them.
On that…
You’re really underestimating the Democrats. They’re not putting up with this shit.
The company I work for uses Twitter/X and Musk put analytics behind a paywall so, as a company, we had to pay to get access to that data. What’s more, the Twitter/X made their analytics FAR harder to use and get the info we needed. Used to be a breeze, now it is a hassle and we pay for it. But that is not me personally sending him money.
Otherwise, the only time I think I gave Musk money was when I was on an international cruise six months ago and subscribed to the WiFi on board which, I am almost certain, used Starlink. In the scheme of things it was not a lot of money I put in his pocket but it was some amount and that adds up across a lot of people.
ETA: I forgot…I have used PayPal a few times but only very rarely and I am not sure if he still gets money from that.
Day late and a dollar short. Not to mention they are not paying for it themselves but collecting money to “defend democracy” and I doubt all the dollars donated will go to that cause.
I hope it works but I am not impressed with their conviction.
There was a violent insurrection attempt 4 years ago and the justice department has done jack shit about it. Yeah, a few of the high profile “rioters” went to jail for a few months, but no one who orchestrated that shit ever got punished. 4 years later, the same guy except obviously even more demented is openly telling us about the crimes he plans to commit in his dictatorship and he’s still about 40% to win at worst.
Imagine what an effective opposition party may have done given the circumstances and one of the easiest people in history to win a messaging war against, and imagine what a competent justice department and legal system would’ve done for treason, using the government as a political weapon, and violent attempts at insurrection, and then compare them to what actually happened. They should be really far apart.
Jan 6 should’ve been a fucking wakeup call that we needed to drastically change how we treated MAGA but our response was timid at best. The same fucking guy is still at it, and even worse in every way, and there’s still a good fucking chance he will be president in 3 months at which point he will fucking tear down everything we have left. Oh but I’m underestimating the democrats, sure.
What exactly about his message would get more people to vote against him, when his solid base doesn’t care about what he says or does?
As the farmers say: “Either farm the land or farm the government”. The latter is usually the more profitable option.
Hmm. Hadn’t considered that. That’s probably my closest encounter with handing him money close-to-directly.
How did you arrive at the surmise that your ship used Starlink as opposed to one of the other technologies on offer? Not disputing you, just wanting to learn what to look for on my upcoming cruises.
Our Cunard Queens are now fully equipped with SpaceX’s Starlink technology. Starlink is the leader in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology, an innovation that has revolutionized our on board Wi-Fi service. - SOURCE
I would also say I think almost any cruise line will use Starlink as well as almost any motor yacht. I saw a video some time ago which noted costs of running a motor yacht and the satellite hook-up (before Starlink) was monstrously expensive (like $10,000/month for a yacht or more). Starlink is more reliable, faster and a great deal less expensive. I can’t imagine why anyone would use anything else these days.
The point is to mobilize the people who won’t otherwise vote, not convince his supporters; they are beyond reasoning with.
Since no purchase is required to be eligible for the prize (much like the McDonalds “Monopoly” game), I’m going to have to ask you to unpack that for me.
I’d love for you to be right, but I just can’t get there on my own.
ETA: I would like for someone to hold Elmo’s feet to the fire and insist that he publish the names of all his “winners” (I’d also find it delicious if one of them came out and endorsed Harris).
It’s not real money; it is just a stack of fake $10,000 bills with “In Vita-K We Trust” in the banner below Elon’s portrait. They are only good for one free appearance on the Joe Rogen Experience, which you can also get just by going on Youtube and repeating a string of absurd nonsense with a straight face.
Stranger
I think you’re over-estimating the capacity of correct information about Trump to deter people from supporting Trump.
The worse he is, the better they–‘they’ meaning a third or more of Americans–like him.
I’m very curious about this, too. Would anyone be surprised if Elon KNOWS it’s illegal, meaning that he won’t have to pay out a single million?
I mean, that sounds like him.
I’ve always been a bit unclear of when “mens rea” (guilty mind) kicks in with the law.
I used to think if you broke a law then that’s kinda it. Doesn’t matter if you didn’t know it was illegal. Ignorance is not a defense. But, sometimes it seems it is.
Could depend on how dependent the government in question is on contracts with your companies…
As I understand it, for almost all crimes, it’s your responsibility to know what’s legal and what’s illegal, and so “I didn’t know it was illegal” isn’t a defense. But for most crimes, “I didn’t know that I was doing it at all” is a defense. As an example, Alec Baldwin knew, of course, that shooting and killing someone was a crime, and even if he somehow didn’t know that, that would be no defense. But at the time, he didn’t know that he was shooting someone. He’s still going on trial, but his defense team is certainly going to argue that he didn’t have mens rea, since he didn’t intend to actually shoot.
I can see the mens rea with (say) a child or someone who is mentally deficient.
Musk is clearly not a child and not mentally deficient. Also, he’s a billionaire and has lots of access to attorneys and other people to advise him. Hard to buy a, “I didn’t know it at all” defense from Musk. Is willful ignorance a defense? (i.e. he could have known but made a point of not knowing the law?)
Again, in my not-a-lawyer understanding, mens rea wouldn’t even be relevant here. He can’t argue that he didn’t know that he was running a lottery. He could try to argue that he didn’t know it was illegal, but that’s irrelevant.
So, can anyone help with my request for a citation that it actually is lottery?
IANAL, but I don’t think it is.
Whether or not it violates any election laws, IMHO, is quite another matter.
ETA: More on the legality of lotteries:
Right; the illegality isn’t whether he’s running a lottery (he’s not; it’s some sort of sweepstakes or contest) but that he’s violating election law in offering the prize.