Musk's Exit Strategy
Plus: Cory Booker's Play, Zohran-mentum, AI's 10-year plan & changing voices on Gaza
So it seems that Elon Musk’s tenure as being the weird, destructive, and inefficient sideshow of Trump’s administration is coming to a close.
This was not unexpected; the position was only temporary and set to lapse in May.
His time there was filled with inflicting much harm onto public-sector employees and many of the institutions our country and others rely upon, and unmet pledges of cutting the federal government spending under the guise of efficiency (but really to destabilize the role of public programs in our society — what a disrupter!).
He brought Nazi salutes and, perhaps to his most significant embarrassment, got so heavily involved in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election race that the people of the state took that election as a referendum on Musk himself. Unsurprisingly, they voted against his wishes and let him know just how much everyone dislikes the little freak.
So as his time in the White House in a formal capacity ends, what is next for Musk and his rudderless empire?
Well, he’s quietly stated that he intends to spend far less money on politics (don’t believe it), he has criticized Trump’s reconciliation bill, and he has new glossy profile in the NY Times.
This is what we in the biz call a pivot (no, I don’t know which biz I’m referring to).
With the facade of a well-meaning billionaire “trying to save the world” having been cracked, look out for those who try to launder his reputation and rehabilitate this odious prick. Take note of any politician that does backroom meetings with Musk and claims that we need to “win him over” again.
And when these attempts come, don’t think it can’t work. If politicians aren’t looking to hold him and his ilk responsible for what they’ve brought upon us, you can be sure they are not fighting for us or part of any resistance to the assault on our government.
Cory Booker’s Empty Gesture
Speaking of pivots, in April of this year, Senator Cory Booker gave a lengthy speech on the Senate floor. Not only was it lengthy, but it set the new record for longest Senate speech.
Marketed as an “anti-Trump” speech, the actual act itself wasn’t a filibuster to block any piece of legislation, a Trump appointee, or anything of the like.
I have nothing against symbolic gestures meant to grab media attention and ideally present a counternarrative towards reactionary sentiment. In a vacuum, this is what I would want.
But the Senate floor is power. It’s a place where power resides. A symbolic speech that doesn’t aim to obstruct the meandering tsunami of the Trump administration is probably one of the crueler and ironic critiques of Democrats in the age of Trump.
And while it seems like I’m being a little difficult on Booker, take note of what he just did; he was the only Democrat to vote in favor of confirming Charles Kushner — father of Jared Kushner and convicted in 2005 of tax evasion, illegal campaign donations, and witness tampering — as Trump’s new U.S. ambassador to France.
Booker is not alone in taking lone votes that help aid the right-wing. Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin was the only Democratic senator to vote with Republicans to revoke California's EV emissions waivers, which would phase out gas-powered cars from the state by 2035.
Which brings us back to the speech. A speech on the Senate floor that lasts for hours should be used to hone in on a specific issue. Whether it’s to heighten the salience of a particular policy or sound the alarm and claim that we need to suspend business as usual on political or court appointees.
A vague, hours-long speech that doesn’t seek to block anything isn’t promoting any issue-set — it’s window-dressing for self-promotion.
That window-dressing can be quite profitable. So profitable that Booker has plans to release his Senate speech in book-form later this fall.
Zohran Mamdani Can Win
I’ll have more to say about this race in the next week or so, but back in March of this year, Andrew Cuomo held a 40 point lead over his next closest rival. That rival was the relatively unknown Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
Fast forward to May, and Mamdani has rapidly closed the gap to only trail by 8 percentage points a month before the election that is set for June 24.
Mamdani and a slate of other candidates such as Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams have unofficially banded together to try and ensure that voters do not rank Cuomo on their ballots, to increase the chances of defeating the former governor.
Through whatever rose-tinted glasses that people view Cuomo’s tenure as governor — most often some unearned nostalgic reverence for his Covid-19 press conferences — it is critical to understand that this is a facade. The real Andrew Cuomo is weak, petty, and desperately craven towards power, which explains his zombie-like run for office.
And Zohran Mamdani has a real shot to pull off the upset. The only question is if he has enough time to close the gap.
AI’s 10-Year ‘Run Amok’ Plan
Another topic that I plan to cover in the coming weeks in broader detail is the discourse surrounding AI.
That conversation includes the competing thoughts of what the actual threat of AI is, the broad based promises tech companies are making with it, the inflated claims of what AI will bring to our society, why tech companies are banking so heavily on it, who actually stands to benefit from it, and what gets left behind in the backend.
And that still doesn’t fully cover the breadth of discourse surrounding the topic.
But in case you missed it from last week, if you’re looking for a preview of whether this industry is actually everything that is being promised, consider this; in the House-budget bill passed earlier this month, an outright ban on any state-based regulations of AI was included for 10 whole years.
States-rights hypocrisy aside, you can consider how much efficacy or intrinsic good the product itself has if our tech overlords have to enforce upon our legislators an all-out ban of possible regulations on a developing industry.
From a birds-eye view, this looks like an industry that is desperately trying to intertwine itself with our public infrastructure, so that unwinding it down the road becomes an arduous ordeal.
Taking away any guardrails could only help.
The Rhetoric on Gaza is Changing
Finally, as a follow up to last week’s focus on the starvation campaign and civilian infrastructure destruction that is occurring in Gaza, I just wanted to highlight a few notable remarks and developments that are occurring from a rhetorical perspective.
First, we have former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank:
“What we are doing in Gaza is a war of extermination: killing civilians indiscriminately, without restrictions, cruel and criminal. We are doing this not because of an accidental loss of control in a particular sector, not because of a disproportionate outbreak of fighters in any unit — but as a result of a policy dictated by the government, knowingly, deliberately, maliciously, maliciously, recklessly. Yes, we are committing war crimes.”
“The declaration by the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, that Palestinian villages [in the West Bank] must be destroyed, is a declaration of genocide. When a Palestinian village is burned, and quite a few have already been burned, they will explain to us that the perpetrators are a small, violent group that does not represent the residents of the territories. This is a lie. They are many.”
Next there is famed novelist Zadie Smith. Last year, Smith wrote a muddled piece in The New Yorker, but that ostensibly criticized the campus protesters, who were then calling the intent and actions of the Israeli government genocidal.
But now, Smith has joined over 300 writers in calling the war in Gaza a genocide and demanding an immediate ceasefire.
And I’ll end on this, or rather, I’ll leave a quote from a Greek doctor, Christos Georgalas, who treated patients in Gaza, and what he observed during his time:
"I can’t say I went to war. War is a very different thing. There was no war in Treblinka, there was no war in Auschwitz. War has two armies. Here you have a population that is mainly civilians and women and children, who have no way of escaping. And bombs are systematically raining down from the sky. They hit hospitals, they hit journalists."
US Slop
Trump Administration
Imports plunge in early sign of Trump tariff impact | Politico
WH pressure for increased immigration arrests strains law enforcement | CNN
Denying Visas to Chinese Students Could Backfire on the US - NY Times
Supreme Court allows Trump to suspend deportation protections for immigrants | CNN
Trump says Elon Musk 'not really leaving' in Oval Office farewell | BBC
More News
Without Mahmoud Khalil, Noor Abdalla Faces Motherhood Alone | The Cut
Mahmoud Khalil Alleges the Trump Admin, Pro-Israel Groups Coordinated to Target Him - Zeteo
Judge: Rubio ‘likely’ violated Constitution in ordering Mahmoud Khalil deported | NPR
Karen Dunn and Other Top Lawyers Depart Paul Weiss to Start Firm | NY Times
How Well Is Congestion Pricing Doing? | Curbed
World Slop
Gaza and West Bank Crisis
'We've Been Silent Too Long': 1,300 Israeli Academics Call to End Gaza War, Citing 'Moral Collapse' | Haaretz
Israel announces major expansion of settlements in occupied West Bank | BBC
We must face reality — the Gaza War is now a war of annihilation | The Forward
A genocide is happening in Gaza. We should say so. | The Washington Post
Israel's use of human shields in Gaza is widespread, sources say | AP News
For Kids With Autism, Gaza Is Hell Upon Hell | The Nation
The Rising Death Toll of the U.S.–Israel Aid Distribution Plan in Gaza | The Intercept
Military intervention must be used to stop the genocide in Gaza | The Guardian
Swiss Authorities May Investigate U.S.-backed Gaza Aid Group | Haaretz
Hundreds of U.K. Jurists Urge Sanctions on Israel Over Gaza War | Haaretz
More News
Sexual Violence, Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits Malawi | ProPublica
Gulf leaders told Trump they oppose strikes on Iran's nuclear program | Axios
Ukraine accuses Russia of undermining next round of peace talks in Istanbul | BBC
Leave me a comment with your views and any stories I missed.
Supporting Kushner as Ambassador to France was a betrayal by Booker. Glad you addressed it. Because not many in the media have … and I’m disgusted and furious. Booker should “speak” less and do more.