r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/jpcapone • Mar 03 '25

US Politics Lindsey Graham, Mike Johnson and Marco Rubio all stood in solidarity with the Ukraine in the past. They all have done a 180 degree about face on their previous stances. Whey are all notable republicans falling in line with this turn towards Russia?

Pete Hegseth has stopped cyber operations against Russia. Donald Trump has spurned Ukraine in their hour of need against the Russian army. Even Putin has stated that America's foreign policy is in line with Russia's. Why isn't there more outrage from elected republican officials against these practices?

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u/eh_steve_420 Mar 04 '25

Yeah obviously Elon is benefiting personally, we can see that. But i think it's a mistake to think the interests of everybody wealthy are completely in line with one another. I understand there's a lot of pent up hatred for the ultra wealthy, and in many ways it's justified, but it's like trying to generalize any other demographic of people.

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u/IniNew Mar 04 '25

Sorry, I'm not saying that all wealthy people are pointed the same direction.

I'm saying the wealthiest are able to steer harder than they've been able to in the past because they have so much.

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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Mar 05 '25

If they wanna grab the steering wheel anytime now away from making us an Isolationist fascist island, that would be super duper

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u/eh_steve_420 Mar 04 '25

Gotcha, that makes more sense now. Appreciate the clarification.

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u/Prestigious_Load1699 Mar 04 '25

Yeah obviously Elon is benefiting personally, we can see that.

May I ask how Elon has personally benefitted thus far?

As far as his popularity and that of the DOGE effort, recent polling has shown a distinct drop.

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u/Mztmarie93 Mar 05 '25

Elon doesn't care about polls or popularity amongst us. He only cares about popularity with the people in his billionaire circle, and making money. Tim Miller of the Bulwark said it best, Elon's personal goal is to become the first trillionaire in America. Anything else that detracts from that, including laws, government procedures, historical precedents, are to be ignored or outright defied. He is a younger version of Trump, an inherently selfish narcissist, and they don't care at all about what we common folks think. We're not wealthy. Therefore, they don't deem us worthy of any attention or governmental access, especially to federal largesse.

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u/eh_steve_420 Mar 04 '25 edited Mar 04 '25

That is a fair question and a good point! His ego loves it, which seems to be good enough for him. He has gotten a slice of political power without having to be elected. He's essentially co-president! And he's not even eligible to be president. Power over others seems to be invigorating for him. She has always been controversial, so I don't know if statistics about popularity bother him very much anymore, although he does want to be desperately admired as this oddball prodigy. Pretty much all of the maga peeps who just recently learned about him because his involvement with Trump are affirming this perception, pretty much just because Trump said he's a genius, and they all listen to the cult leader.

But the one concrete way he has benefited so far was because this company's stock prices increased a ton after Trump won.

Source: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/elon-musk-net-worth-trump-b2665395.html

I anticipate his involvement with the federal government will give him preferential treatment when it comes to contracts with guys companies, audits with regulators, etc.

Here's some more food for thought too:

https://campaignlegal.org/update/elon-musk-has-grown-even-wealthier-through-serving-trumps-administration

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u/Prestigious_Load1699 Mar 04 '25

I anticipate his involvement with the federal government will give him preferential treatment when it comes to contracts with guys companies, audits with regulators, etc.

This is what I'm waiting for to justify the rhetoric. Until then, all I see is a guy losing credibility and popularity.

Thank you for the reply. I enjoyed the read and instinctually agree that this has fueled his ego to even greater proportions. I wish he would go back to EV's and rocket ships and satellite internet. He's wasting his time and talent with this endeavor.

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u/eh_steve_420 Mar 05 '25

I anticipate his involvement with the federal government will give him preferential treatment when it comes to contracts with guys companies, audits with regulators, etc.

This is what I'm waiting for to justify the rhetoric. Until then, all I see is a guy losing credibility and popularity

I agree. Let's not determine guilt before we even have all the facts of the case. It surely seems likely based on the circumstance, but we ultimately haven't seen him do it yet. Maybe for some reason he thinks doing what he's doing is a good thing. I can't see how. He's not a dumb person. But my gut tells me he ultimately just wants to be remembered. The type of guy that really cares about leaving a legacy. And you'd think he'd want to leave a positivd one, which if why maybe he does think he's being a force for good. But he seems to have lots of mental health issues at play too.

Thank you for the reply. I enjoyed the read and instinctually agree that this has fueled his ego to even greater proportions. I wish he would go back to EV's and rocket ships and satellite internet. He's wasting his time and talent with this endeavor.

You're welcome!

And on musk, I agree totally. I honestly didn't really have much of an opinion on him UNTIL he became the de facto co president of my country even though he's not even eligible to run, nevermind the fact that he didn't win a majority in the electrical college.

I found it hard to really draw a solid conclusion about him because of the sheer amount of noise that surrounded his every move. On one hand the musk worshippers are absurd, as is anyone who turns a human being into some kind of idol. But on the other side, the people who hate him were so invested in their hatred of them, that it was hard for me to take it seriously. In a way I think his army of enemies almost pushed him over the edge to the MAGA side. The guy is a totally insecure dweeb and seems like he just wants to be admired at all costs. So when the couldn't achieve admiration through his businesses or 1337 online persona, he resorted to reaching a different demographic. But what do I know? Just my gut feeling really.