# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [August 13, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634 "2024-08-13T00:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 46
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/901 "2024-11-13T22:21:15Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Who in the TSA is ignoring Kid Rock’s orders? They’re fired. Fired by who? Kid Rock? They’ll just tell him no again. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/902 "2024-11-13T22:22:10Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Who in the TSA is ignoring Kid Rock’s orders? They’re fired. By whom? ETA: Ninja’d LOL. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/903 "2024-11-13T22:23:06Z")
Sure, they can say no, and then stop getting paid and get their network access revoked. Like, why does anyone stop going to work when they get fired? eta: Maybe it is just despair or whatever, but I’m 100% expecting massive purges of non-loyal government employees. It is, after all, exactly what they’ve been saying they’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/904 "2024-11-13T22:25:07Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Congress and SCOTUS do have limits. I think those limits are somewhere between **steronz** ’s fear (he can do anything) and your confidence that the rule of law is absolute. Please don’t make shit up about me. I’ve acknowledged in almost every post here that Trump has gotten away with a lot he shouldn’t. That’s very, very far from the bullshit you’re putting in my name about “the rule of law being absolute”. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/905 "2024-11-13T22:28:08Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Maybe it is just despair or whatever, but I’m 100% expecting massive purges of non-loyal government employees. Sure, and the law allows for that (somewhat at least). And I’m sure that some laws will also be broken, and it’ll result in lawsuits that will take so long to resolve that it won’t matter. Because Trump and his people do that shit and have been alarmingly successful at it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/906 "2024-11-13T22:43:15Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Sure, they can say no, and then stop getting paid and get their network access revoked. Like, why does anyone stop going to work when they get fired? The point is, someone has to actually fire them. Trump can’t just decree someone fired and expect the forces of nature to make it so - it has to go through the chain of command to the individual who specifically has the power to fire that employee. If the CEO of McDonald’s wants to fire a drive-thru clerk for not putting enough ice in his Sprite, he can’t just do it himself - the order has to go to Franchise Relations, then to the franchise director, and finally to the store manager. In this hypothetical, since Kid Rock has not been confirmed by the Senate, he is noone’s boss and cannot fire anyone no matter what Trump says. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/907 "2024-11-13T22:55:03Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That’s very, very far from the bullshit you’re putting in my name about “the rule of law being absolute”. Be Pit-like if you want, but it wasn’t my intent. This conversation started about Trump’s ability to create a new cabinet position. You said the following: “The law will [stop him]…Trump **has** to work within the framework of the law…Believe it or not, he has to follow the rules or he can’t do anything. …He has to do what the laws say. He only has power because the laws give him that power after he won an election, and that power works through laws that also restrain him.” You’ve since backed off this a bit, so I don’t want to beleaguer the point. If you feel “absolute” is unfair, then I apologize. But on the original point, it’s inadequate to say he can’t add a new cabinet position because the law won’t let him. If he really wants to do that, Congress will change the law, or SCOTUS will say it isn’t applicable. I’m in complete agreement with you that he can’t do anything he wants. But I have a very real fear that he can do _most_ things, legal or not, because people will let him. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/908 "2024-11-13T22:55:27Z")
This is a terrible example because franchises are their own thing, but let’s play this out. McTrump can’t fire the drive through clerk directly, but he can demand that the franchise owner fire them. If the franchisee refuses, he goes to his, I dunno, VP of Logistics, a sycophant he installed, and tells him that no order requests coming from that franchise owner are to be fulfilled until he says otherwise. The franchise owner then goes out of business or fires the employee. Easy peasy. Oh, does he then sue McDonalds for breach of contract? Who cares, the damage is done and the lawsuit will get stuck in the courts for as long as it needs. But the federal government doesn’t work like that, all he needs is someone in HR and IT to cut disloyal employees off. Do you not think that somewhere in the bowels of government there’s enough Trump lackeys with no ethics willing to do whatever he says? _Especially when this is the exact strategy proposed by P2025?_ ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/909 "2024-11-13T23:01:32Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > But the federal government doesn’t work like that, all he needs is someone in HR and IT to cut disloyal employees off. Sure. HR at the Department of Transportation. Which answers to the Secretary, who in this hypothetical is not Kid Rock because he hasn’t been confirmed. Do you see the problem yet? Let me put it another way. General Wokebegone has decided that Private Pronoun in Company B is too DEI or something, and wants to make him do 50,000 pushups so he’ll learn his lesson. But instead of sending that order through the chain of command to his DI, Sergeant Hardbuttt, he tells Lieutenant Dumbass to make it happen. Problem is, Lieutenant Dumbass is responsible for Company A, so the lieutenant can’t make the private do any pushups, because he isn’t responsible for Sergeant Hardbutt. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/910 "2024-11-13T23:02:35Z")
You live in the USA and you think “rule of law” has any meaning? You sweet summer child. Call me when Carrol gets a dime of the 100? million some clown judge awarded her. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/911 "2024-11-13T23:05:03Z")
We’re talking in circles at this point so I’ll leave you to it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/912 "2024-11-13T23:08:09Z")
They’ve already announced how they intend to skip senate confirmation. The prez has the actual true unilateral power to appoint Joe Maga as the Acting Secretary of e.g. Education until the prez & senate get around to vetting, selecting, and confirming a real Secretary of e.g. Education. Which just might take several years. Meanwhile the acting Secretary has all the official legal titular authority of a real Senate-confirmed Secretary. Zero difference there. A practical difference is that the senor bureaucrats just below the Secretary level tend to sort of nod and smile at any big initiatives by Acting Secretaries. OTOH, if the first thing the Acting Secretary does is start firing people until enough trump toadies have been promoted from within (or hired from without) to fill the top 3 or 4 levels of the agency, real quickly the entire agency will be the de facto personal possession of that Acting Secretary who’s acting themselves as nothing but a conduit for trumply instructions. The Senate can’t force the prez to make a nomination. And depending on how Fascist the senate leadership is, they may not even want to. Acting secretaries are a legit feature of longstanding and long-settled law intended to permit the prez to fill a role quickly with somebody capable of running whichever agency in a caretaker role while the search goes on for the ideal candidate both functionally and politically. Darn near every modern president has appointed at least one. They weren’t intended as a ruse to bypass confirmation. But following the new R buzzphrase: “But what if we did it anyhow?” leads directly to _de facto_ permanent Secretaries who are hired and fired at will solely on the president’s sayso. Connect Acting Secretaries with Schedule F hiring / firing and the entire idea of a professional federal civil service could go up in a literal bonfire of one man’s vanity in the space of mere weeks. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/913 "2024-11-13T23:15:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Trump: From now on Kid Rock is Secretary of Transportation whether the Senate confirms him or not MAGA branded bumper nuts required on all pickups! ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/914 "2024-11-13T23:15:28Z")
Before people get too enamored with BlueSky, you should probably know that it’s just exchanging one set of tech bros for another. > ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/915 "2024-11-13T23:18:54Z")
Jack Dorsey is no longer involved with Bluesky and no longer owns any of the stock. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/916 "2024-11-13T23:20:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > They’ve already announced how they intend to skip senate confirmation. The prez has the actual true unilateral power to appoint Joe Maga as the Acting Secretary of e.g. Education until the prez & senate get around to vetting, selecting, and confirming a real Secretary of e.g. Education. If that person is already holding a Senate-confirmed office. > **[Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Vacancies_Reform_Act_of_1998#Eligibility_to_serve_as_acting_officer)** > > The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (commonly called the Vacancies Act) (5 U.S.C. § 3345 et seq.) is a United States federal statute establishing the procedure for filling vacancies in an appointed office of an executive agency of the government before the appointment of a permanent replacement. > The Act allows an incoming President 300 days in which to temporarily and unilaterally fill positions with "acting" officers. After this initial extended period, the offices officially become va... ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/917 "2024-11-13T23:35:45Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > Before people get too enamored with BlueSky, you should probably know that it’s just exchanging one set of tech bros for another. > > [x.com](https://x.com/davetroy/status/1856453144948961771) Well, yeah. It’s tech. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/918 "2024-11-13T23:44:33Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > Before people get too enamored with BlueSky, you should probably know that it’s just exchanging one set of tech bros for another. Could you copy/paste the thread? Without an account, all you can see is the first tweet. Also, who is the writer? Is he objective, or one of those fanboys selflessly jumping in front of the bullet? ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/919 "2024-11-13T23:56:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Jack Dorsey is no longer involved with Bluesky and no longer owns any of the stock. That’s addressed in the link you obviously didn’t read. > [@TroutMan](#): > > Could you copy/paste the thread? Maybe this link will work. > **[Dave Troy :toad: (@davetroy@toad.social)](https://toad.social/@davetroy/113476788536250587)** > > 1/IMPORTANT thread about Bluesky funding and origins. Many folks know that it was seeded by Jack Dorsey around a libertarian vision of a magical network that wouldn’t need moderation because it would be decentralized and baked into a protocol... > [@TroutMan](#): > > Also, who is the writer? Dave Troy is an investigative journalist in tech. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634/920 "2024-11-14T00:00:53Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > But on the original point, it’s inadequate to say he can’t add a new cabinet position because the law won’t let him. If he really wants to do that, Congress will change the law, or SCOTUS will say it isn’t applicable. **Which is my point.** That is still working within the law. It’s shitty but people who have the power in government are on his side. Mostly. Not completely. We’ll see how much Congress works with him. They’re not all MAGA and for the most part they’re out for themselves, so they probably won’t rubber stamp everything he does (but we’ll see, I’m sure they’ll still do a lot of damage). > [@TroutMan](#): > > I’m in complete agreement with you that he can’t do anything he wants. But I have a very real fear that he can do _most_ things, legal or not, because people will let him. I agree 100%. Getting back to the subject of the thread, I’m skeptical this DOGE thing will happen, but if it does it’ll probably be an instrument to gut programs and will suck a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-2/1005634.md?page=47)