If Musk’s gesture had happened just once, I could have excused it as a doofus’s spasm, but it turned right around and did it again! That’s no accident.
The cold rain pounding on our windows all night sounded like sleet, made the 45 degrees seem a lot colder, no question. But the snow up in Tallahassee beats us, for sure.
You know we’re in Lala land when the ADL tries to tell us that we shouldn’t be so hard on the nice Nazi: that emperor: we just didn’t notice his clothes, he is after all “clothing impaired”, let’s give him some “grace”. Yes, in the words of the great Pete Townsend, “let’s believe our own eyes”. He walks like a Nazi, talks like a Nazi, salutes like a Nazi, and supports (enthusiastically!) the neonazi party in Germany. He’s a fu*king Nazi. Period.
If I inadvertently made a gesture that someone associated with something I personally find abhorrent, I would be falling all over myself to set them straight. I'd make it abundantly clear not only that I wasn't making the gesture but that I find the thing abhorrent.
It certainly looks deliberate, but looks can be deceiving, so I went with probably. But really, who cares whether it was deliberate or not? When it comes to Nazis, Elon Musk is what used to be called a fellow traveler in referring to communist sympathizers. He's already shown us what he is. I believe him. He's a danger to this country. But I have a feeling the Trump-Musk bromance won't last much longer. Musk gets attention, which takes away from the attention that Baby Boy Trump demands. No way his Orangeness can let that slide for long.
Nope. Trump is not threatened by Musk. Musk is both his arm candy and the guy who actually has ideas and gets “the boring” shit done. Plus he can buy him Greenland. (Did you know that musk is now going to have an office in the West Wing?). Musk is what Trump ALWAYS wanted as a buddy and never had amongst the NY crowd. He’s actually IS the richest man in the world (vs all the faux superlatives that Trump loves to throw around). Lots of reports, also, that Trumps cognition is in SERIOUS decline. Who knows? Maybe they’ll 25th him and Vance and Musk will buy a sofa together.
Interesting points, although I don't think it's so mcuh that Trump is threatened by Musk as that they're like toddlers on a play date and may well tire of each other. As for 25-ing Trump, definitely a possibility. Vance will wait until two full years into the term, so that he could take over the presidency and be able to serve two full terms on his own. He would get plenty of pushback from the MAGA crowd, since they view Trump as little less than a god ... no, make that God himself. But Vance is probably not too happy about being shunted aside for Musk and I wouldn't be surprised if he's had his eyes on the 25th amendment from the get go.
Actually I understand that Vance and Musk have been very tight. Though that may be less true now that Musk has an office in the West Wing and is buying the hotel down the street to turn into his own Mar-a-lago (his words) private club. It’s a man’s man’s man’s man’s world.
Much as all these people share various traits with the Nazis, only Steve Bannon and the armed groups like the Proud Boys etc. ad nauseam would be bold enough to intentionally display a genuine Nazi salute. To do that, the straight arm sweeps up (or, if already partly up, straight out). Swinging the right arm from across the body to straight out, as Musk does in this video, is a far more natural gesture. Let's go after these idiots for their statements and acts, rather than their gestures. They already have plenty to answer for.
My wife--the smartest person I know--reminded me that Musk had made a similar gesture while wearing what appeared to be a German officer's cap, so I'll recant. I have also since discovered that, according to Wikipedia, Musk's maternal grandparents "were Nazi sympathizers in Canada before relocating to South Africa for political reasons." 'Nuff said.
While I'm here, I'll relate two more comments from my wife. I remarked on Musk's pointing out that Alice Weidel, the parliamentary leader of the Alternative für Deutschland party (the "no, we're not Nazis" party) being romantically involved with a woman from Sri Lanka, and I considered that odd in such a party. My wife immediately responded, "Clarence Thomas."
Marc Andreesen was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and raised in New Lisbon, Wisconsin. A friend of mine from New Lisbon recalled that after Andreesen became famous for Netscape Navigator, a TV news crew nosed around New Lisbon and discovered the deli where he had worked as a youth. Asked if he had shown any tech aptitude there, workers said, "Oh, yeah. He was the only one who could adjust the digital meat scale."
That's what Tumulty wrote a few weeks ago--watch what they do, not what they say. Remember, the cruelty, incompetence, and chaos are the point. If we get all worked up about every gesture, as horrible as they are, esp endless punditry on every channel and podcast, they figure we won't notice the actual dismantling of the laws.
Who’s left at The Post now? I love Catherine Rampell and Ruth Marcus, but there ain’t too many to go. What is Bezos’s reaction to this? Does he just think he can go out and get comparable reporters and columnists?
Hax is it, for me. But I intend to leave in April when my subscription expires, anyway. I will use my three monthly free articles to read her Friday chat.
My subscription expired a couple of months ago. I felt guilty but the exits of talent to date have assured me my focus and money should be elsewhere for now.
They still have a good sports section. That’s the only part I read any more as my subscription ticks down. Bailey Johnson has emerged as as a talent while working as the Caps beat reporter.
It's tempting to say that Musk was employing a Nazi salute, but note that each time he first puts his hand over where his heart would be, if he had one, before flinging his arm out straight--to the side, not straight ahead like a proper "Sieg heil"--and then says, "My heart goes out to you." Guilty only of bad optics, I'd say. There are many, many reasons to deplore the guy without stretching to pin this one on him.
Or not. As more than amply demonstrated throughout the clip, this is a physically awkward dude. Trying to build a case that he was deliberately performing a Nazi salute--to whom or what? der Furher wasn't in either of the two (!) locations he was "saluting" toward, nor was anything else that would typically inspire that action--via such nano-micro-analysis is an utter waste of time. Which was my main point anyway. There will be truly, seriously evil shit perpetrated by this cabal of grifting oligarchs. *THAT* is where your outrage (and resistance) is needed, not some passing gesture that certainly doesn't merit the attention it has gotten.
If Musk’s gesture had happened just once, I could have excused it as a doofus’s spasm, but it turned right around and did it again! That’s no accident.
And compare him to the fools from Proud Boys, etc., who do it. Exact match.
I believe Space Nazi describes him perfectly!
Yes. And our new president thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced cheese.
I should have added that I did not coin this name. I read it in a column written by Jeff Tiedrich. If you don’t read his stuff, you should be.
He's a documented Nazi sympathizer supporting a German Neo Nazi party. He knew exactly what he was doing.
He clearly did the nazi salute.
He's acting like a popular high school kid who wants to do something transgressive to show how "cool" he is...
It's going to be a very very very long four years😮💨
Meanwhile, hell is freezing over here in Florida
Like, 59 degrees???
Snow in Pensacola. 5" and counting.
47° this morning in Sarasota.
The cold rain pounding on our windows all night sounded like sleet, made the 45 degrees seem a lot colder, no question. But the snow up in Tallahassee beats us, for sure.
You know we’re in Lala land when the ADL tries to tell us that we shouldn’t be so hard on the nice Nazi: that emperor: we just didn’t notice his clothes, he is after all “clothing impaired”, let’s give him some “grace”. Yes, in the words of the great Pete Townsend, “let’s believe our own eyes”. He walks like a Nazi, talks like a Nazi, salutes like a Nazi, and supports (enthusiastically!) the neonazi party in Germany. He’s a fu*king Nazi. Period.
The chest thump and arm snap are exactly like those done by Hitler himself and there are videos comparing the two. It doesn't get more Nazi than that.
I said probably. It was a nazi salute, but I don’t know if it came from the conscious or someplace deeper.
That he hasn’t rushed out to clarify is very troubling.
Exactly!
If I inadvertently made a gesture that someone associated with something I personally find abhorrent, I would be falling all over myself to set them straight. I'd make it abundantly clear not only that I wasn't making the gesture but that I find the thing abhorrent.
Dude who did the "3%" sign on Jeopardy! awhile back, same thing. Got all defensive instead of, "No, not what I meant!" until the crowd got ugly.
Yeah, no doubt there. His Nazi-loving heart goes out to all the authoritarians in the room.
I'd rather his heart GIVE out than GO out.
There’s always that Ketamine…a girl can dream.
Thing is, Elmo has enough money to be a buffoon longer than anyone else. But I do hear the long knives being sharpened in the shadows.
"If you're going through hell, keep going".--- Attributed (wrongly) to Winston Churchill.
"Which way out?" (for a simulated trap game in the future) "Any way but back." Clifford Simak.
It certainly looks deliberate, but looks can be deceiving, so I went with probably. But really, who cares whether it was deliberate or not? When it comes to Nazis, Elon Musk is what used to be called a fellow traveler in referring to communist sympathizers. He's already shown us what he is. I believe him. He's a danger to this country. But I have a feeling the Trump-Musk bromance won't last much longer. Musk gets attention, which takes away from the attention that Baby Boy Trump demands. No way his Orangeness can let that slide for long.
Nope. Trump is not threatened by Musk. Musk is both his arm candy and the guy who actually has ideas and gets “the boring” shit done. Plus he can buy him Greenland. (Did you know that musk is now going to have an office in the West Wing?). Musk is what Trump ALWAYS wanted as a buddy and never had amongst the NY crowd. He’s actually IS the richest man in the world (vs all the faux superlatives that Trump loves to throw around). Lots of reports, also, that Trumps cognition is in SERIOUS decline. Who knows? Maybe they’ll 25th him and Vance and Musk will buy a sofa together.
Interesting points, although I don't think it's so mcuh that Trump is threatened by Musk as that they're like toddlers on a play date and may well tire of each other. As for 25-ing Trump, definitely a possibility. Vance will wait until two full years into the term, so that he could take over the presidency and be able to serve two full terms on his own. He would get plenty of pushback from the MAGA crowd, since they view Trump as little less than a god ... no, make that God himself. But Vance is probably not too happy about being shunted aside for Musk and I wouldn't be surprised if he's had his eyes on the 25th amendment from the get go.
Actually I understand that Vance and Musk have been very tight. Though that may be less true now that Musk has an office in the West Wing and is buying the hotel down the street to turn into his own Mar-a-lago (his words) private club. It’s a man’s man’s man’s man’s world.
Re: Philip Rucker. I don’t know that a move to CNN is necessarily a step up. Their coverage has been, shall we say, less than stellar.
Susan, it is a step OUT.
A lot of news organizations seem likely to improve, having pulled major talent from the once-great WaPo.
Yes, didn’t they just move their most admired commentator to Siberia?
Much as all these people share various traits with the Nazis, only Steve Bannon and the armed groups like the Proud Boys etc. ad nauseam would be bold enough to intentionally display a genuine Nazi salute. To do that, the straight arm sweeps up (or, if already partly up, straight out). Swinging the right arm from across the body to straight out, as Musk does in this video, is a far more natural gesture. Let's go after these idiots for their statements and acts, rather than their gestures. They already have plenty to answer for.
Check a similar video of Adolf. Same gesture.
My wife--the smartest person I know--reminded me that Musk had made a similar gesture while wearing what appeared to be a German officer's cap, so I'll recant. I have also since discovered that, according to Wikipedia, Musk's maternal grandparents "were Nazi sympathizers in Canada before relocating to South Africa for political reasons." 'Nuff said.
While I'm here, I'll relate two more comments from my wife. I remarked on Musk's pointing out that Alice Weidel, the parliamentary leader of the Alternative für Deutschland party (the "no, we're not Nazis" party) being romantically involved with a woman from Sri Lanka, and I considered that odd in such a party. My wife immediately responded, "Clarence Thomas."
And finally, she pointed me to https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-constitution/.
Wise woman, your wife. No coincidence that musk, thiel & 1 other (andreesen?) are all from South Africa
Marc Andreesen was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and raised in New Lisbon, Wisconsin. A friend of mine from New Lisbon recalled that after Andreesen became famous for Netscape Navigator, a TV news crew nosed around New Lisbon and discovered the deli where he had worked as a youth. Asked if he had shown any tech aptitude there, workers said, "Oh, yeah. He was the only one who could adjust the digital meat scale."
New Lisbon? Wow, that's wild. I'm a cheesehead, had no idea. So many weird people come from Wisky Hills.
That's what Tumulty wrote a few weeks ago--watch what they do, not what they say. Remember, the cruelty, incompetence, and chaos are the point. If we get all worked up about every gesture, as horrible as they are, esp endless punditry on every channel and podcast, they figure we won't notice the actual dismantling of the laws.
Who’s left at The Post now? I love Catherine Rampell and Ruth Marcus, but there ain’t too many to go. What is Bezos’s reaction to this? Does he just think he can go out and get comparable reporters and columnists?
He’s not concerned about competency, much less excellence.
Accurate!
Hax is it, for me. But I intend to leave in April when my subscription expires, anyway. I will use my three monthly free articles to read her Friday chat.
At least WaPo columnist Drew Goins is killing it on Jeopardy!
My subscription expired a couple of months ago. I felt guilty but the exits of talent to date have assured me my focus and money should be elsewhere for now.
Alexandra Petri is all that's keeping me from dropping it, and she's on maternity leave.
They still have a good sports section. That’s the only part I read any more as my subscription ticks down. Bailey Johnson has emerged as as a talent while working as the Caps beat reporter.
Bezos has decided to turn WaPo into a musical with Taylor Swift in a starring role. His stated goal is ???30 million readers?
It's tempting to say that Musk was employing a Nazi salute, but note that each time he first puts his hand over where his heart would be, if he had one, before flinging his arm out straight--to the side, not straight ahead like a proper "Sieg heil"--and then says, "My heart goes out to you." Guilty only of bad optics, I'd say. There are many, many reasons to deplore the guy without stretching to pin this one on him.
Maaaybe... but wouldn't the hand sweep out to the side in that gesture, with the palm vertical instead of horizontal?
Or not. As more than amply demonstrated throughout the clip, this is a physically awkward dude. Trying to build a case that he was deliberately performing a Nazi salute--to whom or what? der Furher wasn't in either of the two (!) locations he was "saluting" toward, nor was anything else that would typically inspire that action--via such nano-micro-analysis is an utter waste of time. Which was my main point anyway. There will be truly, seriously evil shit perpetrated by this cabal of grifting oligarchs. *THAT* is where your outrage (and resistance) is needed, not some passing gesture that certainly doesn't merit the attention it has gotten.