It's weird reading actual lawmakers refusing to put their names on the record, for fear of retaliation. That's usually for staffers, and the retaliation would come from above. There's not much "above" the legislator themselves.
If I were their constituents, I'd be pretty cranky about their lawmakers saying one thing to them and another to the press. (Obviously, we don't know exactly who they are, but it's not hard to narrow it down. And they appear to be speaking for others, so even if it wasn't your specific legislator, you know if yours likely feels that way.)
Zigurd · 1d ago
It's almost as if somebody who has a history of employing thugs and fixers got a whole other level of thugs and fixers, maybe with help at the nation state level.
1659447091 · 1d ago
> It's weird reading actual lawmakers refusing to put their names on the record, for fear of retaliation.
They've had that fear since 2016-2018, that if they werent kissing the ring, Trump waives them away and suddenly there is a new well financed primary challenger praising the GOP overlord and promptly replacing the years long incumbent. Even though no one had ever heard of them before the money'd kingmakers had them installed.
Lawmakers hiding behind fear not only hints of some form of GOP ptsd, but also that it would be the perfect time for them to realize they can change it by fixing the campaign expenditure spending.
I don't pretend to have a deep understanding of it all, but with the rise of the internet and the rise of foreign and domestic bot/astroturfing/disinformation farms, it's time the courts revisit it. And what better time than when the ones with all the power to change things come from the same money group.
Hopefully they get tired of being cowed into submission and decide they don't actually want to live in fear of doing the job they were elected to do.
bediger4000 · 1d ago
First, this article illustrates why enormous individual wealth is a problem. Musk could finance a primary of each and every Republican Congress member, which would amount to a soft takeover of the federal government. Lowering taxes on the wealthy was a mistake.
> He served at the pleasure of the president. He no longer does
Congressional Republicans continue to act like Trump is king, rather than President.
jfengel · 1d ago
That part, at least, is common to all Presidents. Anybody can be fired. There's usually some deference to people who have been approved by the Senate, if for no other reason than that replacing them is a hassle, but Musk is not.
He probably should have been, given how much authority the President delegated. But there was no precedent, especially outside of wartime. This is all being presented as an "emergency", which is extremely dubious and should result in at least an investigation, but ... you know.
If I were their constituents, I'd be pretty cranky about their lawmakers saying one thing to them and another to the press. (Obviously, we don't know exactly who they are, but it's not hard to narrow it down. And they appear to be speaking for others, so even if it wasn't your specific legislator, you know if yours likely feels that way.)
They've had that fear since 2016-2018, that if they werent kissing the ring, Trump waives them away and suddenly there is a new well financed primary challenger praising the GOP overlord and promptly replacing the years long incumbent. Even though no one had ever heard of them before the money'd kingmakers had them installed.
Lawmakers hiding behind fear not only hints of some form of GOP ptsd, but also that it would be the perfect time for them to realize they can change it by fixing the campaign expenditure spending.
I don't pretend to have a deep understanding of it all, but with the rise of the internet and the rise of foreign and domestic bot/astroturfing/disinformation farms, it's time the courts revisit it. And what better time than when the ones with all the power to change things come from the same money group.
Hopefully they get tired of being cowed into submission and decide they don't actually want to live in fear of doing the job they were elected to do.
> He served at the pleasure of the president. He no longer does
Congressional Republicans continue to act like Trump is king, rather than President.
He probably should have been, given how much authority the President delegated. But there was no precedent, especially outside of wartime. This is all being presented as an "emergency", which is extremely dubious and should result in at least an investigation, but ... you know.