Let me make myself crystal clear on this topic: every single time in the last century and a half that some asshole has tried to create a third political party (e.g. Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose, Ross Perot’s Reform) the net result has been an electoral victory for the Democrats.
So Elon, buddy, unless you want to see ALL your good works on DOGE and such overturned, quit this bullshit about forming a new “America” party. You’re acting like a spoiled child who fucks up everyone’s Christmas because you got a green bicycle with 3-speed gears instead of a red one with a 10 speed. Yeah, the BBB wasn’t everything we wished for. But it sure as hell was better than anything else on offer.
Because make no mistake: if Musk’s little exercise ends with the fucking Democrats taking control of the White House and/or Congress (which is what history tells us will happen), they will reverse everything that Trump has managed to get done: closing the border, ending the USAID boondoggle and hamstringing the loathsome Dept of Education, to mention just three of the domestic wrongs righted.
What this steaming bunch of Communists will inflict on the world with their pathetic attempts at foreign policy of appeasement of shitholes like Iran and China cannot be imagined.
Here’s what I hope, if Musk gets this silliness operational: that Trump ends all repeat all subsidies for the “alternate energy” industries like wind power and electric car manufacturers — because in the latter case, all that will happen will be that expensive electric cars like Tesla will have to face sky-high retail prices (in a market that is already in a tailspin as ordinary people turn away from the Duracell models), resulting in Tesla pretty much becoming an expensive toy for rich people.
And Tesla isn’t Ferrari, in case nobody’s noticed it before.
Oh, and one last thing. There’s no need for a third political party in the U.S. because we already have one: it’s called “MAGA” and it’s not a party but a movement.
One would have thought that a smart guy like Elon Musk would have figured this out.: politics is the art of the possible, not the display of spite when the possible wasn’t perfection.
If Musk had always let the perfect be the enemy of the good, his rocket program would have ended after the first failed launch. Why he now wants to embrace that policy ideal makes me wonder if he is as bright as everyone seems to think he is.
And finally, there’s this:
Quit co-opting our patriotic symbol to further your own little ego trip.
I have thought a lot about Musk and where he came from and why he is doing what he is doing. To fully understand his current actions, you have to look at where he came from. So lets digress a bit. His first successful company was zip2 that he made with his brother. He was just a smart programmer back then, something I can relate to because I’m one of those. He netted 20 million in that internet search engine, then pivoted to online financial services and formed what would become PayPal around the year 2000. See any robots, electric cars or space ships yet? No – me either. Just a lucky (and hard working) programmer with a good bit of business acumen.
From there, I suspect everything was all about the fun of applying his business sense to radicalize for fun a profit neat things that caught his eye. That’s not saying he wasn’t dead serious about them. I am certain that he remains all that about all his ventures. The problem is of course that comes with a ruthless devotion to the formula for his success. If something doesn’t fit his vision, then it doesn’t belong and he will do his best to root it out. While it sounds like “the right thing to do”, it has, issues.
Above you note that he should know that perfect is the enemy of the good from the way that is rocket company has achieved its stunning success. As a programmer, I would say he is probably very familiar with “good enough”. I suspect (from having pursued employment with SpaceX and seen how that go about selecting brains for work there) that all his companies are culturally attuned to the process. It seems to be working for them.
So looking at it in this context, the BBB was an affront to his process. It made a mockery of the really cool thing he has authored with his DOGE work. That was very personal with him.. remember him wearing the “tech support” t-shirts in the oval office? He really believed that Trump and congress was on board with this neat DOGE “company”. Some were, some weren’t.
When not enough weren’t and the BBB passed, it was time to leave that company, cut his losses and form a new one. That’s what he does. Thus, his third party thing. I very much doubt that he will succeed, nor care much. Failures are ok, and he has enough other cool stuff happening, that it really doesn’t matter. He will move on. We will also.
While I don’t disagree with your premise, the simple fact is that the R party is not “the good” threatened by “the perfect”. The R party is the slightly less worse party that will of course disappoint us sooner rather than later. So in reality this is a case of the perfect being the enemy of the lesser evil.
And every single grass roots movement to reform the R party has had a sudden case of Rhinos rushing to the forefront to gobble up the publicity before grinding the movement into dust and scattering the ashes. Those who advocate reforming the R party are shockingly unaware of history in that regard.
I still think at some point we need to shock the system with a wholesale change out of parties. I don’t think it will happen and we’ll continue to see the slow collapse of the system that we’re watching now. The Trump era is a minor setback to the collapse of the USA, something that was set in motion over 100 years ago.
But yes, Musk has all the appearance of the spoiled little brat taking his football and running home.
It is the same set of voters. So if you set up a third party, fighting for the same set of voters as the GOP – even if they are successful the new party will end up looking like the old one.
The Republican party was the last one that formed successfully and that was only possible because the Wig Party self destruction because they were anti-slavery and anti German immigrants and the German immigrants were the most anti-slavery demographic in the US.
Unless the GOP self destructs, it is what we have.
Some other commentors are suggesting that Elon’s new party will actually pull more from moderate Dems, so there’s that. But I agree, the people voting are generally getting what they deserve, good and hard. Which is why I’d be all for restricting the right to vote to property owners, gainfully employed (as in we pay income tax every year), and those retired after many years of gainful employment. Maybe spouses of those 3 categories, maybe not. And that’s about it. Everyone else can suck it, we don’t live in a democracy.
What Kim said X 1000!
This reminds me of the old Jim Benton cartoon with the three glasses half full of a yellow liquid.
One says, “I’m half full”
One says, “I’m half empty”
The third one says. “I think this is piss”
No matter how many there are, they’ll always be the same and only the minority will realize it..
I agree with you assessment of a Musk 3rd party. He needs to stay out of politics and stick with business.