Paul Cantrell
I’m not sure people are being sufficiently imaginative about just how craven and chaotic Musk is going to be with the computer systems he seized. Refusing to pay bills he doesn’t like? Sure, yes. But:
Imagine that he sends cash directly to every person in the country the data brokers think is Trump supporter, and double dog dares Congress or the courts to start a mass insurrection by clawing it back.
For example.
Paul Cantrell
Imagine that he shuts •all• the payments down at once and issues an ultimatim like Lex Luthor or something. And there's an emergency injunction, and Trump pardons him in advance, and he keeps doing it.
Imagine that he just slurps the entire budget directly into his pocket. Who can know? Nobody has access to the system. By the time we find out, the money’s gone.
2/3
Paul Cantrell
Would any of these ideas actually work?! Well, what does “work” mean?
These ideas are all chaotic, nonsensical, ridiculous, sure to immediately blow up. Obviously.
I think it’s a mistake to underestimate just how much chaos these people are willing to unleash. They’ll grab the wheel of the moving car at the edge of a ravine if they think they’re more likely than the driver to survive the crash. “That makes no sense, they wouldn’t do that” is a thought we need to scrub from our expectations.
3/3
Paul Cantrell
OK, here’s a way of framing the posts above:
When a fascist sits down at a checkers board with you, you might think you’re playing a game of checkers — but they don’t. They think they’re playing a game of “flip the board and punch you in the eye.”
And unless they get kicked out when they try that, they are correct.
Paul Cantrell
These people are not playing 10-dimensional chess. They are not playing 2-dimensional checkers. They are playing “flip the board and punch everyone in the eye.”
Paul Cantrell
In the meantime, with a few notable and truly admirable exceptions, the institutional opposition (including but not limited to the Democratic Party) is saying, “Sure, they may be punching us in the face now, but we are so much better at checkers!”
Paul Cantrell
I do think a few of the quicker elected Democrats get the assignment (see below).
And then there’s my Senator, Amy Klobuchar, who muddles around like a modern Neville Chamberlain and (reportedly) saves all the rage for her own staff.
https://progressivecafe.social/@TonyStark/113942648882695706
Michael Busch
I really would like there to have been a better DFL candidate to vote for in the primary last year.
At least Tina Smith acknowledges the problems we now face?
Paul Cantrell
@michael_w_busch
She seems to be, as usual, at least on the same planet as me.
Paul Cantrell
A heartening piece from @jaykuo , recommended by a friend:
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/is-somebody-doing-something
When I talked about the “notable and truly admirable exceptions” above, I should not have said “few.” Strike that. Say “many.” A whole lot of people who aren’t feckless Klobuchars are in the fight, even if they’re not in the headlines, and they know this isn’t checkers anymore. That piece lists a few. I’m going to take heart and say there are many more.
Paul Cantrell
@cavyherd
Whether anyone has the power to assert legal authority over who — and will use it — is a very, very good question.
Cavyherd
What I want to know is: who has the authority to lock his ass up?
I mean, he has NO official standing, & by all accounts what he's doing is wildly illegal.
Paul Cantrell
@cavyherd
Remember this
https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/113043105185561409
Cavyherd
It really doesn't seem like it could be as complicated as everyone is trying to make it out to be
Paul Cantrell
@cavyherd
Agreed. That has a little to do with the attitudes of the parties, a lot to do with who respects the rule of law…but I think most of all to do with who the oligarchs support and how they’ve bent the institutions to their will over the last…oh…20? 40? more? years.
Cavyherd
Fair point (and, no, I don't understand what the hang-up is). But also, pretty confident that if parties were reversed, this would be an entirely different conversation.
Paul Cantrell
@cavyherd
Do read the Kuo article at the end of the thread. You'll feel a little better.
Cavyherd
Absolutely. And anybody in an actual position to do anything (like actual staffers & capital police) all seem to have taken a stun grenade to the face. Otherwise it's puzzling why actual law enforcement isn't all up in their grills.
Paul Cantrell
Yet more heartening news of yet more people who fully understand what this moment calls for:
https://dcmediagroup.us/2025/02/02/federal-workers-block-doors-of-admin-building-over-elon-musk-data-breach/
Paul Cantrell
@cavyherd
We all need a little extra grace right now, I think.
Cavyherd
Also: thank you for the gentle response. I think I can legitimately claim a not-entirely-gibbering response to this whole shitshow. But that doesn't mean I'm responding particularly rationally, either.
Cavyherd
Right. Yes. Thank you.
🤦
Cavyherd
Oh! Right, the thread—
SQUIRREL!
Paul Cantrell
@budgegeria
I think I'm missing the reference…?
Budgegeria 🦜
@inthehands At last, the pigeon gets its honor back.
Paul Cantrell
@budgegeria
I do not! This is my Green Day moment: https://xkcd.com/2667/
Budgegeria 🦜
@inthehands You don't know the comparision to playing chess with a pigeon?
CrazyDogLadysezBreatheWithMe
@inthehands The “Sovereign Wealth Fund” scam is what Najib Razak did in Malaysia. (1MDB: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/25/1mdb-scandal-explained-a-tale-of-malaysias-missing-billions )
We are most definitely being robbed.
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