Elon Musk versus MAGA: Republicans have reached a tipping point

[marmar]

Elon Musk versus MAGA: Republicans have reached a tipping point
Can the Musk myth hold up against the Trump cult?

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published June 4, 2025 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) I had the weird experience last evening of watching the new film "Mountainhead," written and directed by Jerome Armstrong, the creator of the iconic HBO series "Succession," while simultaneously doom-scrolling social media. The premise of the movie is that the four horsemen of the apocalypse, in the guise of four tech billionaires, gather at a 50 million dollar mountain castle to play poker while the world literally burns due to the richest one's release of a new AI program that allows undetectable deep fakes and disinformation. (It's not hard to figure out who his character is based on.)

....(snip)....

Life imitating art in the creepiest way possible. Just as creepy was the movie's dialogue that sounded almost verbatim like the kind of techno-utopian, puerile sci-fi, billionaire geek speak we hear from the world's richest man, who recently told Fox News that he plans to go to Mars (and die there), because:

“Eventually, all life on Earth will be destroyed by the sun. The sun is gradually expanding, and so we do at some point need to be a multiplanet civilization, because Earth will be incinerated.”

....(snip)....

Musk is a very successful entrepreneur, obviously. His fortune alone attests to that. And some of his companies are truly visionary, even if he isn't the only one to have had that particular vision. However, what we've seen recently with his foray into government is a good example of the Dunning-Kruger effect: a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their general abilities.

It's tempting to think that the truly perfect example is Donald Trump, but it doesn't quite fit. Trump's only talent lies in one domain — self-promotion. That leads him to lie about his talents in other areas. I don't think he actually cares if he has any competence in them because he is content with simply saying it and convincing others that it's true. Musk actually believes that he is a genius who can do anything. But as we've seen with his experience in government and politics, he is not.

....(snip)....

In the process, he destroyed his reputation and the reputation of his companies, losing a lot of money and prestige. Now that he's backed off, the White House is back-stabbing him ruthlessly, passing on gossip about his drug use and personal life, necessitating that he go on a sad-sack media tour to restore his image, which isn't working. And now he seems to be going to war with the White House over the GOP budget bill, which he calls "abominable," telling anyone who voted for it they should be ashamed. That means he's referring to all but two Republican House members. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/04/elon-musk-versus-maga-have-reached-a-tipping-point/

[travelingthrulife]

1. I think techbro MAGA and the evangelical MAGA are natural enemies.

We need to encourage their division.