Trump and Musk Want to Have Freedom. (Yours.)
Their little-noticed remarks on deregulation are profoundly wrong and dangerous to people who like living
Aug. 14: Trump, Musk bond over ending rules … Union hits back at Trump and Musk … Abortions rising … MAGA who called women “mouthy” wins primary …
The Fucking News is original reporting and daily context and snark of both big stories and stories you wouldn’t see otherwise. You can help keep it going by becoming a paid subscriber.
One overlooked aspect of Delonald Trmumpsk trying to achieve a Vulcan mind meld while crouched furiously over a Triscuit1 on Monday night was Musk’s feverish, recidivist push to be liberated from rules.
Musk runs [sic] three massive businesses: SpaceX, Tesla, and X. And presumably he’s planning to buy Xerox, Stridex, and Tampax. Which will then be mandatory in boys’ bathrooms.
Point is, with all his companies, Musk doesn’t like that rules apply to sending rockets into space, sending driverless automobiles onto our streets, or sending lies and incitement onto what’s left of Twitter.
Musk pushed Trump repeatedly for more deregulation. His reasoning was howlingly poor — nicely illustrating why he should be subject to rules.
Here’s Musk, stupiding to Trump, and Trump stupiding back:
Musk: “What happens with laws and regulations is that there’s more and more of them every year. And unless there’s a process to clean them up, eventually everything becomes illegal.”
Trump: “You’re right.”
Actually, they’re both wrong. So, doubly wrong. Possibly wrong2.
For one thing, I read (the first few hundred pages of) The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, so I can tell you authoritatively-by-proxy that there has never in all of human existence been a society in which everything became illegal. Even if it feels that way to a billionaire who musk ast himself every day how he’s the richest man on Earth but can’t do whatever he wants.
But factually isn’t the only way you’re wrong, sad Trmumpsk. Dearest dipshits, I hope you’re sitting down on your gilded couches, because I have some wild news that might break your sodden brains.
Laws can legalize things.
In fact, it’s Democrats who largely have to push against Republicans to pass laws that make things legal. Things like weed. Or voting.
Hilariously, Trmumpsk actually cites a not-bad example: FDA drug approval, which lots of folks have criticized for being slower than it could be.
Why’s that hilarious? Because Trump claimed to Musk that he rushed something through the FDA. What was it? Vaccines. And how do Trump voters feel about that?!?
But that’s not the only hilarity. Musk listed things he wants deregulated. Like high-speed tunnels and nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants.
And what rules most prevent underground high-speed rail? Rules that say you can’t just take people’s land or tunnel beneath it. (Never mind that it’s congressional Republicans who’re the real obstacle to high-speed rail on either side of Earth’s crust.)
Not to say that all deregulation is bad. For instance, we could make it easier to test self-driving [sic] Teslas out in the real world: Let ‘em run free in two zip codes: Wherever Musk’s kids live, and wherever’s home to the richest personal injury lawyers in the country. RIP, X Æ A-Xii.
But virtually every regulation or law you can point to has its roots in someone’s interests. Yes, there is such a thing as big business weaponizing regulation to squelch competition. Which should be eradicated but Musk said nothing about because that would disadvantage him.
For the most part, though, regulations and laws actually are about freedom. Yours. Freedom to breathe regulated air, drink regulated water, work at regulated jobs, in regulatorily-constructed buildings.
Silicon Valley hates regulation. So those rich idiots fire off their zingers about regulation from inside buildings built according to earthquake regulations.
What caused the 2010s global economic crash? Deregulation. In the name of exactly the arguments Musk makes. What helped drive inflation? Deregulation. By Trump.
More stupid from Musk: “[Ronald] Reagan did a great job on deregulation in the eighties.”
Ever see a passenger jet in a movie or TV show set in the ‘60s or ‘70s? The roominess and comfort? Reagan deregulated the industry in the ‘80s. Now your only option is to pray to Cthulhu the guy in front of you doesn’t recline.
Know what else Reagan deregulated? Health care. Reagan refocused hospitals from removing your tonsils to removing your wallet.
What other rule did Reagan kill? The Fairness Doctrine, which said broadcasters couldn’t use the public airwaves to push just one political view. How’s that looking now?2
Know what Reagan tried to deregulate? Airbags. Which thanks to Musk’s driverless cars we don’t need anymore. Except in the back seat. And the outside.
Auto Workers Strike…Back at Trump and Musk
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Tuesday filed federal labor charges against Delonald Trmumpsk for illegally threatening to punish workers who exercise their legal rights.
In Monday’s hilarious but weirdly also boring exercise in two billionaires talking past each other, the two men reveled in the thought of firing workers who strike for better pay or working conditions.
They were talking about alleged government inefficiency because neither of them has a fucking clue how to balance the federal books for real, and Trump out of the blue — which is where all his mouth-noises come from — praised Musk for firing striking workers.
“[T]hey go on strike and you say, ‘That’s okay. You’re all gone. You’re all gone,’” Trump said. Referring to the prospect of doing the same to government workers, Musk said, “I’d be happy to help out.”
The UAW’s complaint called their remarks “illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.”
To be clear: Striking is legal. Firing workers for striking is not. Neither is threatening to.
UAW President Shawn Fain said, “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean.” The UAW has a million working and retired members throughout the country.
More than 100,000 working UAW members are in Michigan.
Worth noting: Musk’s labor history is so shitty, it’s not even clear which incident Trump was talking about, or whether Trump fever-dreamed this anti-worker fanfic. Here’s just some of the record of the world’s richest free-speech champion, courtesy of the New Republic:
Tweeted that Tesla would deny workers stock options if they unionized.
Illegally stifled the free speech of Tesla workers discussing pay and working conditions.
Illegally failed to give Tesla workers meal and rest breaks.
Illegally stole Tesla workers’ overtime pay.
Allegedly fostered racist conditions on the Tesla shop floor.
Fired SpaceX workers for exercising their free speech in a letter calling Musk “a distraction and embarrassment.”
Fired unionized Twitter janitors for walking off the job to get better pay and working conditions.
But what’s really gotten overlooked here, and would could should prove far more damaging to Trump is his unfettered lust for firing people. Job de-creation, if you will. Look at the full context of what he said, with his job-cutting joy bolded for emphasis:
“You, you’re the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike. I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s okay. You’re all gone. You’re all gone. So every one of you is gone.’ And you are the greatest. You would be very good. Oh, you would love it.”
This wasn’t in the context of labor strife! It was about reducing federal spending. By eliminating jobs.
And the broader context for this is that CEOs love to fire people. Why? Because Wall Street bros bukake3 them for it.
Firing people makes the stock price go up, which means bigger stock-based compensation packages for the firers. Our economy is structured to incentivize the destruction of corporate jobs.
If there’s one benefit to come out of Trmumpsk’s talk, it’s that Trmumpsk was in their safe space, so they didn’t have to pretend they don’t love cutting jobs.
U.S. to Sell Israel $20 Billion in Offensive Weapons for Self-Defense
The Biden administration said yesterday it’s approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel over the coming years, just in case there’s anything left of Gaza years from now.
The package includes anti-aircraft missiles for defense, and many other things that can be used for not defense. Things like 50 F-15 fighter jets, 32,000 tank ammunition cartridges, tactical vehicles and 50,000 mortars.
The weapons will provide years of security for the financial outlook of arms dealers.
Weirdly, for some reason, Hamas pulled out of Thursday’s scheduled cease-fire talks, perhaps out of concern that all those weapons will not be used to cease firing.
How the Supreme Court Is Killing Precious Microscopic Babies
Remember how the right-wing Christians on the Supreme Court ended the horrific genocide of invisibly small cell clusters by preventing women from removing stuff from their bodies? Well, it didn’t work.
Abortions are rising, yo.
Yes, in states with total bans the reported numbers have fallen to nearly zero, a new study finds. But that’s reported numbers, and that doesn’t account for other states.
Because politics is Newtonian, Democratic states expanded resources and legal protections for abortion, so abortions have become easier to get, even — also thanks to pills and telehealth — for some people in red states.
My own theory — pulled out of my ass and therefore likely to be killed by Democrats after removal from my body — is that these red-state early-term abortion bans are having unintended consequences. Meaning, if you have time to weigh the decision, maybe some people might be inclined to figure out how their lives could work with an unplanned kid in the picture.
But if you’ve only got a week or days to decide, thanks to a six-week ban, maybe some people are just pushing the panic button because they don’t know then in that moment how to swing it.
The obvious answers to reducing abortion, however, are a laundry list of things that ostensible abortion foes reject: Sex education, readily available contraception, readily available abortions, and investments in parenting and family-making that are massive enough to make the Pentagon jealous.
Campaign Watch
ABORTION November’s ballots will include abortion referenda in Arizona and Missouri after officials this week signed off. Other states where abortion measures will be spurring turnout: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota and New York. States that might still add ballot measures: Arkansas, Montana and Nebraska
SENATE - MINNESOTA Republican voters hilariously and considerately nominated Royce White to run against Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in November. Last night’s voting already caused Klobuchar to lose…her shit laughing. Backed by Donald Trump acolytes Steve Bannon and Alex Jones, White beat a GOP rival endorsed by extant GOP normies and comes into the race having said that women were injected into the workplace and “women have become too mouthy.” Godspeed, Royce White’s campaign manager.
SENATE - WISCONSIN Republican voters chose a Wisconsin realtor California banker to get chewed up by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in November. Because voters love bankers! Said banker, Eric Hovde, was endorsed by former Pres. Donald Trump, helping him cruise to victory over no significant opposition.
HOUSE - MINNESOTA Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) easily won re-nomination in yesterday’s primaries. She was the last Squad member to face a primary, and unlike some others didn’t face the war-chest of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). How come Omar was spared, while AIPAC took out Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO)? AIPAC didn’t say, but those two had multiple political weaknesses, and Omar has built a strong political coalition that put the party establishment at her back.
HOUSE - TEXAS Democratic district chairs yesterday chose former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to run for Congress in November, replacing the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) on the ballot for the solidly Democratic district.
HOUSE - UTAH Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) officially became the winner of her state’s primary yesterday. The state’s Supreme Court rejected the final challenge to the very narrow recount. Maloy is backed by former Pres. Donald Trump, but won her seat in a special election, so this’ll be the first time she has to run alongside Trump on the ballot.
HOUSE - WISCONSIN Republican primary winner Tony Wied, a gas-station mogul endorsed by Pres. Donald Trump, will face Democrat Kristin Lyerly, a doctor who sued to protect abortion rights, in November. Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who runs a non-profit, will take on massive MAGA Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) in a very competitive district. Two Trump candidates lost in yesterday’s House primaries.
WISCONSIN Voters yesterday rejected a Republican ballot measure that would’ve blocked Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) from spending money that Washington provides to the state for things like disaster aid. Republicans were pissed at Evers for spending billions of dollars in COVID funding on things like people and the common good.
One Quickie
The stock market continues to not participate in The Greatest Depression that Pres. Joe Biden and Vice Pres. Kamala Harris double-handedly started last week. Stocks were up again yesterday.
TCB
Yes, I wrote “musk ast” on purpose. Good catch!
Just a quick reminder that you can support TFN by becoming a paid subscriber or making a one-time donation.
Come say hi on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, Spoutible, and still for some reason Twitter. I see you, Newsfuckers!
Go get ‘em, kids.
Do not look up this reference, I implore you.
No, the Fairness Doctrine doesn’t cover cable, ergo Fox, but we at least used to have the principle active in our civic discourse.
Don’t look up this one, either. I warned you.
congratulations and thank you for Delonald Trmumpsk 🏆 🎉.....if that isnt a Batman comics villain name, i dont know what is--both of those assholes should be put on a rocket and fired into the sun--and btw, why hasnt musk been sued or even arrested by DOJ for all of his illegal labor practice bullshit&fuckery?....i love me some regulated capitalism, but Who TF is left to enforce the regulations?---
also, having written the book 'How to Avoid Finding Yourself In A Relationship with a Pathological Gaslighting Narcissist with Anti-Social Personality Disorder and Probably Multiple Personality Disorder also, too (and How to Escape With Your Life If You Do)--i can authoritatively-by-experience tell everyone that elevating the most pathological lying sociopaths in any given society to the highest positions of wealth and power without regulating the fuck out of their behaviour is AN EXTREMELY BAD AND DESTRUCTIVE IDEA to that society--you're welcome
the same goes for continuing to give 'defensive' weapons to the also-sociopathic leader of a supposed ally...this shit has got to stop...Israel already has more than enough weapons to defend itself against Iran or who/whatever--unless the motivation for giving them conventional weapons is so that supreme asshole Netan-fucking-yahoo doesnt use nuclear weapons, which he almost surely would if Iran launched a full-scale invasion....khaa-ryst, when will that shit ever end?...if that entire region were to be engulfed by a giant sinkhole and swallowed into the earth's molten core, i dont think all that many people would be upset by it 🤷🏼♂️
thanks for the warnings on the references, but i already knew about #s 2 & 3--what can i say, i'm a degenerate, curious, 8/9 dead cat---so there's nofuckingway i'm checking out the triscuit thing
Couple of things. Had a good chuckle about, “I read (the first few hundred pages of) The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity..” because so did I and you just reminded me to go back to it….
Secondly, the “job de-creation” framing is great.
And finally:
“My own theory — pulled out of my ass and therefore likely to be killed by Democrats after removal from my body — is that these red-state early-term abortion bans are having unintended consequences. Meaning, if you have time to weigh the decision, maybe some people might be inclined to figure out how their lives could work with an unplanned kid in the picture.
But if you’ve only got a week or days to decide, thanks to a six-week ban, maybe some people are just pushing the panic button because they don’t know then in that moment how to swing it.
The obvious answers to reducing abortion, however, are a laundry list of things that ostensible abortion foes reject: Sex education, readily available contraception, readily available abortions, and investments in parenting and family-making that are massive enough to make the Pentagon jealous.” Spot on. 😘