Lucas: This was one of most comprehensive and compelling indictments of present government. I appreciate you labeling it an oligarchy. I don’t have the exact numbers but I think the top 3 richest men control more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans. To illustrate the autocratic state within a state, Mr. Musk, an unelected despicable immigrant from Apartheid SA, can say no to a bill that was agreed upon by officials elected by the American people. America is the best democracy money can buy!
The pressure and opprobrium need to be directed towards the Congress and Senate who, having come to an agreement that wasn't actually terrible and did get some things done that needed to be done, willingly bent over and let him have his way with them. Until those in both parties who do this sort of thing recover their brains and backbones or are removed by the voters everything will be performative feel better stuff and just as effective as it sounds.
It is absolutely an indictment of the present government. The current congress had from Feb to Oct to propose a budget or, failing that, to just pass a CR (continuing resolution). The CR is intended to prevent a government shutdown by just keeping government funding at its current levels. It is a status quo bill that should have no new spending. New spending is supposed to go through the budget process. Even with legalese, the CR could have been rendered in a few pages of text and would have passed easily. No shutdown drama or callouts from Elon Musk.
Instead, this arrogant and corrupt congress created a 1400+ page "CR" that included many billions of dollars in new spending and then hid the bill until very nearly the end of congress' term. The bill was produced with less than 24 hours for the public (and congress) to read and digest. This behavior (from both sides of the aisle) is reprehensible and a gross abuse of congress' responsibilities to the American public. There is only one reason congress did this - they wanted to spend money on things they knew the American public did not want (including themselves).
I am beyond disgusted.
Lucas - you have a mandate to put an end to this practice. You need to do the following:
1) DEMAND that congress produce a budget or CR for public consumption, at least 90 days prior to the end of their term.
2) DEMAND that the budget or CR be produced as a PDF, and then you - Lucas - ensure that it is flooded to all media outlets - X/Twitter, FB, Insta, etc. Make sure that it is annotated with the individual congress persons who have sponsored every single spending item. Make sure that their public contact information (emails, phone numbers, hashtags, etc.) are included in the PDF so that constituents can easily contact their representatives and let them know whether or not they support the planned spending items.
3) DEMAND that the budget or CR is split into 20-page chunks that can be voted on individually.
Don't let the oligarchy win! We must hold congress directly accountable to the American public and completely bypass the oligarchs!
I just want to thank you for engaging. It seems the Democratic Party has doubled down on its recent (many years, but in context) weakness by leaving their voters a post-election void that no one in leadership seems interested in filling. I agree with this post whole-heartedly, but even if didn't, please keep it up. It's lonely on the left
Spot on, Lucas. I agree that our party these days is most definitely NOT the party I joined 59 years ago as an idealistic and enthusiastic 21 year old. I don’t condone or encourage the cold-blooded killing of any human being, so I am appalled at all the “mensures” being taken to protect other CEOs from the Luigi Mangiones of this world, yet nothing is being done to protect poor, homeless, black men with mental health issues from the likes of the Daniel Penneys of this world. Lest we forget, Daniel Penney way not only acquitted of the murder of Jordan Neely, but he has been lionized and invited to rub elbows with the President and Vice-President elect, the same way Kyle Rittenhouse was. When all is said and done, the only diference between Luigi Mangione’s crime and Daniel Penney’s was the victim, and we should stop being hypocrites about it.
What level of security clearance does Musk have? Does he have clearance for any and all records? How is he advising Donald Trump (a convicted felon who is not yet in office) unless he has a high enough clearance level to look at government information?
eVIlon musk-tRumputin&his/theirs are tasked by terrorist putin of russia-and-all-other-antidemocracy-oligarchic terrorists to, literally, destroy America, NATO and the entire Modern West from inside.
The NONtRumputinist and better yet ANTItRumputinist Americans, despite our internal differences that may be, MUST RISE TO THE UNIQUE AND ONCE IN A LIFETIME OCCASION TO STOP them!!
The difference in treatment of the cases of murder is indeed striking. To me, the most appalling is the outrage and commitment of resources to protect CEOs compared to the collective shrug we see regarding school shootings. The most recent school shooting to make the news, occurring in Madison WI, was reportedly the 83rd instance this year. It drew the usual expressions of grief and dismay, but no discernible action on the part of public officials, nothing comparable to the commitments made to protect the most privileged and pampered. One would think the murder of children in their schools would be far more significant than an isolated attack on a corporate bigwig, but no. Imagine if 83 CEOs had been assassinated year-to-date. The mobilization of resources to prevent future killings would have been unprecedented. For the kids, well, thoughts and prayers now and then.
Just remember, one guy with explosives in his shoes caused an entire massive new government bureaucracy to be formed, to x-ray all our shoes, coats, computers and suitcases. And yet, folks still manage to get guns, knives, and explosives through security. I'm very uncomfortable with what it says about our national values that one commercial airplane that MIGHT have exploded could justify such a massive financial commitment, when the repeated slaughter of our school children and teachers, week after week, year after year, has not called forth a national emergency response.
SG, I agree with you wholeheartedly. (I’m a senior citizen and one of those awful, “woke” Californians and, knowing that California would elect a liberal to the US Senate, I supported Mr. Kunce’s bid for the Senate.) I earnestly pray Mr. Kunce will run again, perhaps for the House in 2026.
You’re absolutely right and democrats need to be more thoughtful in their actions, especially those in public office. We are definitely the party much more caring about the everyday American in the bills we pass. Now we need to show that we are truly the ones who are on the side of everyday Americans in all that we do. Unfortunately, given a bit of power too many democrats forget why they are democrats.
I agree the PARTY is feeling more like a corporation, the voters however (except those who did not vote this year ) are the backbone of democracy . I understand that those who were unable to get to vote because of challenges (health, transportation etc) legitimately could not make it…those who just didn’t care to vote or assumed the win would be “in the bag” are who I feel “dropped the ball” . Thank you Lucas for always showing up!
Thanks for being willing to say this out loud. The official outrage at the public social media response to this killing has been stomach turningly blind to the reality that so many Americans are living with. Yes, we are sorry that a woman lost a beloved husband, and that children lost a beloved father. But he made his millions every year by making decisions that caused many, many Americans to lose beloved children, spouses, and parents because of delayed or denied medical care, just so that he could justify his obscene income. What about all the heartbreak that caused? What about all those grieving parents and spouses and children? Why hasn't there been a leadership outcry acknowledging the justification for this expression of our public pain?
Spot on Lucas! Keep involved and do not despair. The pain factor for common folks will increase shortly. Things will be seen that many could not fathom. Some observers were shocked by the insurance CEO case and the accused suspect being cheered. They do not understand, it is human nature. This has happened in the past. My grandparents were young with small children in the 1930’s. They, my parents, Aunts & Uncles struggled as the overwhelming majority of Americans did at the time. You were lucky to have some type of transportation so one could chase work. The wealthy & powerful had taken the country to the tipping point. This new generation of the wealthy & powerful strive everyday to do the exact same thing. They are ignorant fools. But, that is human nature also. That side has always been there. It always will be. You showed the officers protecting the company vehicles and property. Officers in a Union being used against other Union members. That will change also. I don’t know if you are a car buff. In the 30’s, the automobile that showed status was the Duesenberg. They were hand made, fast, and beautiful. Take a wild guess what city contained the most? Yes, NYC. Do you know what the elite had to start doing at the time? They had to keep their cars parked and hidden. If they drove their Duesenberg in the city, people would pelt their vehicles with bottles, cans, and trash. The police when present, would stand there and do nothing. You see, the police were also struggling. They had kinfolk strapped and hungry. You will see this happen again if the elite are allowed to edge all of us to the tipping point again. FDR and the Democrats stepped in and saved this country. The Democratic Party at the time was imperfect, just as now. However imperfect, they had enough sense to change direction and move quickly to truly help working people. Today’s Democratic Party is now at this exact moment. They must seize the moment. Action is required. The usual talk and normal moves are not going to cut the mustard! If they rise to the occasion, they will be voted into power for years to come. The people are yearning for leadership. They do not want a handout. They want a fair shake. They want a chance. It will not be easy. Powerful, lustful, immoral forces are emboldened and moving. Stay invested and involved Lucas. You and your generation can save us. People around my age have fell down on our watch. I know it is not fair or right to ask. But, we are where we are. I and many others will help. Stay in the fight. This country and the American people are worth it! Have a great holiday season. Be safe.
I have heard and read in multiple places of a theory that continuing to refer to Apartheid Guy as "President Elon Musk" will eventually cause 45/47's ego to erupt and make him kick Muskmelon to the curb, because as demonstrated repeatedly, he cannot STAND it when someone else seems to be more favored than he is. This may not work, but it makes it somewhat more than just an "I told you so"(which I agree does nothing really).
I agree with the points you raise about the Democratic party and the situation we're in. As another commenter said, please run again because we need you!
Mr Kunce, this is yet another spectacular post. But I want to disagree with you, in part, about one thing. "President Musk" didn't "single-handedly" do anything. (And you've spent most of this post specifying all the help he's getting, from Dems!) Musk threatened (Rep) electeds, who agreed to do whatever he said (which was the critical and immediate extra help "President Musk" got), and the underlying mechanism was that if they didn't heel, he would pay violent amounts of money to get the public to oust them -- the public, which clearly can't think straight, being the central help he was going to recruit. Clearly, people like Hochul and Adams identically understand that all of this is about private money recruited/deployed by the people who have obscene amounts of it to get them unelected. The voters are uninformed and do not have a clear understanding of whatever they do know, and they can be moved -- we just saw it as recently as last month -- to vote against their own interests, if they're shown enough TV ads, yard signs, and other shiny objects.
In every primary, there are 1%ers who drop out quickly enough, because they don't captivate the public. The fact that Donnie and "President Musk" do captivate the public is not evidence that they are powerful, and can accomplish anything single-handedly. The public/voters are no more discerning about them than they would be if they were hypnotized. They blindly and stupidly think people who have, or claim to have, money are smart. They ignore that these people are liars and thieves. People who don't have obscene amounts of money are so impressed (and envious) that they just stop paying attention. Ask Hochul and Adams. They'll tell you.
We are going to continue to have this problem, if we survive as a country, until we get private money, especially the larger and darker amounts, out of politics. Real countries don't have this. They have short campaign seasons and little or no private money.
Agreed, in part. Parliament is already considering new legislation to prevent Musk from following through on his offers to massively support Farage in Great Britain. But please remember that it is our Supreme Court that decided corporations are individuals with constitutionally protected free speech. The irony of what has happened to our "PACS" is that they were created to enable ordinary Americans to "batch" their small donations so that they could better compete with the influence of corporate lobbying. Now that corporations are individuals, corporate ability to influence elections has exploded.
It's true it's the SCOTUS, but they didn't appear like magic. They were carefully selected by Reps, and confirmed by McConnell and his stooges.
I have read and heard a number of descriptions of the "failing" of Dems, who think things should just be fair, by the book, and consistent with "norms." Reps don't care about norms. They lie, cheat, and manipulate to get what they want. It's a sad thing that Dems are either going to have to correct the system, or act more like Reps.
eVIlon musk did, you can call it single-handedly, along with his buddy terrorist putin of russia (whose actors were threatening the Democratic-voting places with bombs), with his tRumputinist buddies who purged potentially millions of Democratic voters and with his starlink abilities to break the tabulating machines codes, create a "drop-off" effect and other manipulations - steal this 2024 election for tRumputin. https://smartelections.substack.com/p/the-press-release?r=em94l&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
But, since Democrats and other NONtRumputinist and/or ANTItRumputinist Americans are frozen in fear of even investigating this election lest they be, with totally false equivalences, I repeat, with totally false equivalences with 2020 by the msm, called "election-deniers, conspiracy-theorists, insurrectionists"....... then, I don't know what to say.... I know one thing, the moment Democrats so quickly conceded, quit and gave up on this 2024 election, that moment turned out to be their moment of tragical, horrible capitulation to tRumputinists-their destruction of America-NATO-Modern West and the world. so horribly tragical that when shit hits the fans and the push comes to shove, Democrats surrender......
Vel Santic, I do not entirely disagree with you. Although I will point out that your very first retort was to say that Musk did do something single-handedly, immediately after which you name at least a couple of the other hands involved.
But where I don't entirely argue with you is your frustration that Dems didn't dispute the election more than they did. Although I doubt there was much, if any, available dispute they could prove. The bigger problem, though, was that considering Gore's now remote dispute about the '00 election, and Trump's dispute about the '20 election, if Dems had made a crusade about the very next presidential election, we would be stuck with no election ever passing without getting bogged down in disputes. If you argue that even if that was true, Donnie should never have anything at all conceded to him, I won't disagree. It was, in its way, a very difficult position for Harris. Should she dispute the gerrymandering, the last minute challenges to votes, or what? All worthy material to dispute. But American politics and government were carefully constructed not to be like that. I think the "cure" might be that Donnie and Elon, and the rest of them, are going to do a great deal more damage, and the public will then learn the critical lesson about Reps. We can't save the voters from themselves at this point without appearing just to be the next round of whiners. And they'll disqualify us if we try.
Fred Jonas, regarding your first paragraph, you're correct. My choice of words could've been more exact but my point was it was eVIlon musk's-magats'-putin's concerted effort to corrupt, distort and hijack this November 2024 election and they committed it, most unfortunately.
Please, never ever make any equivalence between this really stolen november 2024 election with tRumputin's frivolous baseless lies about 2020 election!! those equivalences are false!!
I've followed Stephen Spoonamore's and SmartElections' logic and they're sound.
Vel Santic, we should all be very careful about indicting elections as having been stolen. Donnie's indictment was proven wrong by over 60 court cases and all 50 governors. No one has proven the '24 result wrong. It's infuriating if it was contributed to by last minute disqualifications of votes, and, in a colloquial sense, it does not pass the smell test, but no one has subjected it to the kind of examination that could result in proof. Should she have? It's hard to say. Clearly, if this was as obvious and demonstrable to her as it is to you, she would have. But whether she prevailed or she didn't, we further cement that no election is over until the complainers and rebels finish some protracted crusade of complaining and challenging. "Peaceful transfer of power" includes that you take lumps you don't want to take, and move on. Gore was right. Donnie was not. Harris had nothing to work with, or she would have challenged. And it's too late now. No one cares if someone launches spitballs claiming it was theft by Donnie, Elon, the Russians, or anyone else.
Donnie's going to do a lot of damage. It'll be worse than before. Let's hope the public/voters come to understand the problem better this time. I encourage you to use your passion to enlighten, and not waste it with chastising. Elon will be out of there soon enough anyway. He and Donnie are competing for the spotlight each of them craves, and Donnie has the power. It's being mentioned increasingly frequently now. Donnie will tell Elon "you're fired." And frankly, Elon won't give a shit, because he already has vastly more money than he could possibly figure out what to do with, and all he wants is more. He's just addicted to money, even though it stopped having meaning to him a long time ago.
Again, any false equivalences of this weird 2024 election with the clean and transparent 2020 Biden's win - are NOT to be made by anyone!! Kamala Harris and Democrats did not, tragically, dare to even examine nor investigate this really bizarre election 2024 results because she and Democrats were paralyzed of terror of eVIlon-tRumputinists PROJECTIONIST false equivalences instantly thrown at them by msm about, paraphrasing "bla-bla-bla, election-denying, bla-bla-bla, conspiracy-theorists, bla-bla-bla, undermining bla-bla-bla transfer bla-bla-bla of power Democrats bla-bla-bla" (unquote) - but that IS what IS uniquely tragical about USA the way it is in this shape and form - its keenness to self-sabotage its own democracy through tRumputinist projections, obfuscations, false equivalencies.
Stephen Spoonamore's and SmartElections' Duties to Warn were, precisely because knowing that allowing eVIlon musk-tRumputin back on power will have been the point of no return, not "only" much worse than last time, only the expertly calls to examine and investigate with hand counting this 2024 elections, they were NOT calling for anything less nor anything more!! But I see it's impossible to even make one you understand the crucial importance of this 'cause you Fred Jonas too succumbed to the false equivalencies.
most unfortunately, I wish I could see any hope from this point onward. I would love more than anything than to be able to say I see a hope but since I can not lie, I can't. I'm totally physically, psychologically and financially exhausted because this existential fight to survive has been taking my entire life as I, most unfortunately, hail from the tragical region of former yugoslavia and have been Legal Immigrant in America all the time, uninterrupted from 1997-2016 (it's obvious why I was, indirectly or directly, expelled from USA in summer of 2016 i.e. because of the unbearable tRumputinmania of western Pennsylvania that year where I was destined by immigration organizations to reside).
I wish you all the best luck in your speculations about the dynamics of eVIlon musk-tRumputin relations, however, the rest of Modern West, NATO and the world can NOT depend on NOR dread tRumputinist america that chose to become another terrorist putin's of russia satellite, anymore. America most tragically in its own stockholm-syndrome allowed itself to become hijacked from outside and inside - something that the rest of the Modern West, NATO and the world must never ever allow happen to them/us!!
Vel Santic, there is no false equivalence. Donnie took his complaints to over 60 courts and 50 governors, and he lost. We have a legal system, Donnie tried to use it, and he lost. He didn't stop whining, but for four years, he wasn't in office, despite his raging assertions.
Harris, if she had evidence, could have used the same legal system. Your funny spellings of names of people, or your rage and resentment about being exiled back to Yugoslavia, are not evidence.
Wholeheartedly agree, plus do away with large corporate PACS and all Super PACS. It would be startling to many people just how much the general tone of elections would change without the sensationalist and often highly falsified information spread by printed mailers and televised political ads.
Until Reagan, broadcast media were required to broadcast emergency alerts for free. Reagan excused them from this requirement. We need that back, and we need all political advertising to be free, and every candidate gets the same amount of exposure as every other candidate. And no one can spend anything beyond what everyone gets for free. And short campaign seasons, too. So no one gets to spend a year or more flooding the public with unresponded-to lies.
Don't be fooled by these two individuals from New York. One is Repub-lite. She is true to her roots in conservative Western New York. And the Mayor; he's the poster child for "Defund the Police". They are comparable to that beloved DC duo of Manchin and Sinema.
The 2 jerks who voted against Bidens Build Back Better agenda which would have helped alot of average Americans. Why I don't give the DNC any donations. We need another FDR
I appreciate Lucas’s substack. I feel saddened the direction the government and people are going. It is hard to look at and easier to say nothing can be done and look away. It was sad the CEO was assassinated but I think of the school children who fear what will happen at school. I am 70 and that did not enter into my thoughts when I was at school, we need to keep analyzing and not to look away and to do what we can. I am so sorry you did not win you would have brought light into the darkness.
Lucas: This was one of most comprehensive and compelling indictments of present government. I appreciate you labeling it an oligarchy. I don’t have the exact numbers but I think the top 3 richest men control more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans. To illustrate the autocratic state within a state, Mr. Musk, an unelected despicable immigrant from Apartheid SA, can say no to a bill that was agreed upon by officials elected by the American people. America is the best democracy money can buy!
The pressure and opprobrium need to be directed towards the Congress and Senate who, having come to an agreement that wasn't actually terrible and did get some things done that needed to be done, willingly bent over and let him have his way with them. Until those in both parties who do this sort of thing recover their brains and backbones or are removed by the voters everything will be performative feel better stuff and just as effective as it sounds.
It is absolutely an indictment of the present government. The current congress had from Feb to Oct to propose a budget or, failing that, to just pass a CR (continuing resolution). The CR is intended to prevent a government shutdown by just keeping government funding at its current levels. It is a status quo bill that should have no new spending. New spending is supposed to go through the budget process. Even with legalese, the CR could have been rendered in a few pages of text and would have passed easily. No shutdown drama or callouts from Elon Musk.
Instead, this arrogant and corrupt congress created a 1400+ page "CR" that included many billions of dollars in new spending and then hid the bill until very nearly the end of congress' term. The bill was produced with less than 24 hours for the public (and congress) to read and digest. This behavior (from both sides of the aisle) is reprehensible and a gross abuse of congress' responsibilities to the American public. There is only one reason congress did this - they wanted to spend money on things they knew the American public did not want (including themselves).
I am beyond disgusted.
Lucas - you have a mandate to put an end to this practice. You need to do the following:
1) DEMAND that congress produce a budget or CR for public consumption, at least 90 days prior to the end of their term.
2) DEMAND that the budget or CR be produced as a PDF, and then you - Lucas - ensure that it is flooded to all media outlets - X/Twitter, FB, Insta, etc. Make sure that it is annotated with the individual congress persons who have sponsored every single spending item. Make sure that their public contact information (emails, phone numbers, hashtags, etc.) are included in the PDF so that constituents can easily contact their representatives and let them know whether or not they support the planned spending items.
3) DEMAND that the budget or CR is split into 20-page chunks that can be voted on individually.
Don't let the oligarchy win! We must hold congress directly accountable to the American public and completely bypass the oligarchs!
Huh?
I just want to thank you for engaging. It seems the Democratic Party has doubled down on its recent (many years, but in context) weakness by leaving their voters a post-election void that no one in leadership seems interested in filling. I agree with this post whole-heartedly, but even if didn't, please keep it up. It's lonely on the left
Sure is!
Spot on, Lucas. I agree that our party these days is most definitely NOT the party I joined 59 years ago as an idealistic and enthusiastic 21 year old. I don’t condone or encourage the cold-blooded killing of any human being, so I am appalled at all the “mensures” being taken to protect other CEOs from the Luigi Mangiones of this world, yet nothing is being done to protect poor, homeless, black men with mental health issues from the likes of the Daniel Penneys of this world. Lest we forget, Daniel Penney way not only acquitted of the murder of Jordan Neely, but he has been lionized and invited to rub elbows with the President and Vice-President elect, the same way Kyle Rittenhouse was. When all is said and done, the only diference between Luigi Mangione’s crime and Daniel Penney’s was the victim, and we should stop being hypocrites about it.
Bravissima Irma!
Thank you, Lucas. Spot on.
What level of security clearance does Musk have? Does he have clearance for any and all records? How is he advising Donald Trump (a convicted felon who is not yet in office) unless he has a high enough clearance level to look at government information?
Sadly, I’m not sure that even matters anymore.
eVIlon musk-tRumputin&his/theirs are tasked by terrorist putin of russia-and-all-other-antidemocracy-oligarchic terrorists to, literally, destroy America, NATO and the entire Modern West from inside.
The NONtRumputinist and better yet ANTItRumputinist Americans, despite our internal differences that may be, MUST RISE TO THE UNIQUE AND ONCE IN A LIFETIME OCCASION TO STOP them!!
The difference in treatment of the cases of murder is indeed striking. To me, the most appalling is the outrage and commitment of resources to protect CEOs compared to the collective shrug we see regarding school shootings. The most recent school shooting to make the news, occurring in Madison WI, was reportedly the 83rd instance this year. It drew the usual expressions of grief and dismay, but no discernible action on the part of public officials, nothing comparable to the commitments made to protect the most privileged and pampered. One would think the murder of children in their schools would be far more significant than an isolated attack on a corporate bigwig, but no. Imagine if 83 CEOs had been assassinated year-to-date. The mobilization of resources to prevent future killings would have been unprecedented. For the kids, well, thoughts and prayers now and then.
Just remember, one guy with explosives in his shoes caused an entire massive new government bureaucracy to be formed, to x-ray all our shoes, coats, computers and suitcases. And yet, folks still manage to get guns, knives, and explosives through security. I'm very uncomfortable with what it says about our national values that one commercial airplane that MIGHT have exploded could justify such a massive financial commitment, when the repeated slaughter of our school children and teachers, week after week, year after year, has not called forth a national emergency response.
Uvalde, TX told you everything.
Isn't that the truth.
Lucas Kunce: We need you in government. Keep up the good fight and run again!
SG, I agree with you wholeheartedly. (I’m a senior citizen and one of those awful, “woke” Californians and, knowing that California would elect a liberal to the US Senate, I supported Mr. Kunce’s bid for the Senate.) I earnestly pray Mr. Kunce will run again, perhaps for the House in 2026.
I agree 100%.
You’re absolutely right and democrats need to be more thoughtful in their actions, especially those in public office. We are definitely the party much more caring about the everyday American in the bills we pass. Now we need to show that we are truly the ones who are on the side of everyday Americans in all that we do. Unfortunately, given a bit of power too many democrats forget why they are democrats.
I agree the PARTY is feeling more like a corporation, the voters however (except those who did not vote this year ) are the backbone of democracy . I understand that those who were unable to get to vote because of challenges (health, transportation etc) legitimately could not make it…those who just didn’t care to vote or assumed the win would be “in the bag” are who I feel “dropped the ball” . Thank you Lucas for always showing up!
"power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"?
I think that's true when we're operating under a paradigm that is dominance/submission.
I'm ready for a shift to co-operation and all that goes with it!
Thanks for being willing to say this out loud. The official outrage at the public social media response to this killing has been stomach turningly blind to the reality that so many Americans are living with. Yes, we are sorry that a woman lost a beloved husband, and that children lost a beloved father. But he made his millions every year by making decisions that caused many, many Americans to lose beloved children, spouses, and parents because of delayed or denied medical care, just so that he could justify his obscene income. What about all the heartbreak that caused? What about all those grieving parents and spouses and children? Why hasn't there been a leadership outcry acknowledging the justification for this expression of our public pain?
Spot on Lucas! Keep involved and do not despair. The pain factor for common folks will increase shortly. Things will be seen that many could not fathom. Some observers were shocked by the insurance CEO case and the accused suspect being cheered. They do not understand, it is human nature. This has happened in the past. My grandparents were young with small children in the 1930’s. They, my parents, Aunts & Uncles struggled as the overwhelming majority of Americans did at the time. You were lucky to have some type of transportation so one could chase work. The wealthy & powerful had taken the country to the tipping point. This new generation of the wealthy & powerful strive everyday to do the exact same thing. They are ignorant fools. But, that is human nature also. That side has always been there. It always will be. You showed the officers protecting the company vehicles and property. Officers in a Union being used against other Union members. That will change also. I don’t know if you are a car buff. In the 30’s, the automobile that showed status was the Duesenberg. They were hand made, fast, and beautiful. Take a wild guess what city contained the most? Yes, NYC. Do you know what the elite had to start doing at the time? They had to keep their cars parked and hidden. If they drove their Duesenberg in the city, people would pelt their vehicles with bottles, cans, and trash. The police when present, would stand there and do nothing. You see, the police were also struggling. They had kinfolk strapped and hungry. You will see this happen again if the elite are allowed to edge all of us to the tipping point again. FDR and the Democrats stepped in and saved this country. The Democratic Party at the time was imperfect, just as now. However imperfect, they had enough sense to change direction and move quickly to truly help working people. Today’s Democratic Party is now at this exact moment. They must seize the moment. Action is required. The usual talk and normal moves are not going to cut the mustard! If they rise to the occasion, they will be voted into power for years to come. The people are yearning for leadership. They do not want a handout. They want a fair shake. They want a chance. It will not be easy. Powerful, lustful, immoral forces are emboldened and moving. Stay invested and involved Lucas. You and your generation can save us. People around my age have fell down on our watch. I know it is not fair or right to ask. But, we are where we are. I and many others will help. Stay in the fight. This country and the American people are worth it! Have a great holiday season. Be safe.
I have heard and read in multiple places of a theory that continuing to refer to Apartheid Guy as "President Elon Musk" will eventually cause 45/47's ego to erupt and make him kick Muskmelon to the curb, because as demonstrated repeatedly, he cannot STAND it when someone else seems to be more favored than he is. This may not work, but it makes it somewhat more than just an "I told you so"(which I agree does nothing really).
I agree with the points you raise about the Democratic party and the situation we're in. As another commenter said, please run again because we need you!
Mr Kunce, this is yet another spectacular post. But I want to disagree with you, in part, about one thing. "President Musk" didn't "single-handedly" do anything. (And you've spent most of this post specifying all the help he's getting, from Dems!) Musk threatened (Rep) electeds, who agreed to do whatever he said (which was the critical and immediate extra help "President Musk" got), and the underlying mechanism was that if they didn't heel, he would pay violent amounts of money to get the public to oust them -- the public, which clearly can't think straight, being the central help he was going to recruit. Clearly, people like Hochul and Adams identically understand that all of this is about private money recruited/deployed by the people who have obscene amounts of it to get them unelected. The voters are uninformed and do not have a clear understanding of whatever they do know, and they can be moved -- we just saw it as recently as last month -- to vote against their own interests, if they're shown enough TV ads, yard signs, and other shiny objects.
In every primary, there are 1%ers who drop out quickly enough, because they don't captivate the public. The fact that Donnie and "President Musk" do captivate the public is not evidence that they are powerful, and can accomplish anything single-handedly. The public/voters are no more discerning about them than they would be if they were hypnotized. They blindly and stupidly think people who have, or claim to have, money are smart. They ignore that these people are liars and thieves. People who don't have obscene amounts of money are so impressed (and envious) that they just stop paying attention. Ask Hochul and Adams. They'll tell you.
We are going to continue to have this problem, if we survive as a country, until we get private money, especially the larger and darker amounts, out of politics. Real countries don't have this. They have short campaign seasons and little or no private money.
Agreed, in part. Parliament is already considering new legislation to prevent Musk from following through on his offers to massively support Farage in Great Britain. But please remember that it is our Supreme Court that decided corporations are individuals with constitutionally protected free speech. The irony of what has happened to our "PACS" is that they were created to enable ordinary Americans to "batch" their small donations so that they could better compete with the influence of corporate lobbying. Now that corporations are individuals, corporate ability to influence elections has exploded.
It's true it's the SCOTUS, but they didn't appear like magic. They were carefully selected by Reps, and confirmed by McConnell and his stooges.
I have read and heard a number of descriptions of the "failing" of Dems, who think things should just be fair, by the book, and consistent with "norms." Reps don't care about norms. They lie, cheat, and manipulate to get what they want. It's a sad thing that Dems are either going to have to correct the system, or act more like Reps.
eVIlon musk did, you can call it single-handedly, along with his buddy terrorist putin of russia (whose actors were threatening the Democratic-voting places with bombs), with his tRumputinist buddies who purged potentially millions of Democratic voters and with his starlink abilities to break the tabulating machines codes, create a "drop-off" effect and other manipulations - steal this 2024 election for tRumputin. https://smartelections.substack.com/p/the-press-release?r=em94l&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
https://smartelections.us/
But, since Democrats and other NONtRumputinist and/or ANTItRumputinist Americans are frozen in fear of even investigating this election lest they be, with totally false equivalences, I repeat, with totally false equivalences with 2020 by the msm, called "election-deniers, conspiracy-theorists, insurrectionists"....... then, I don't know what to say.... I know one thing, the moment Democrats so quickly conceded, quit and gave up on this 2024 election, that moment turned out to be their moment of tragical, horrible capitulation to tRumputinists-their destruction of America-NATO-Modern West and the world. so horribly tragical that when shit hits the fans and the push comes to shove, Democrats surrender......
Vel Santic, I do not entirely disagree with you. Although I will point out that your very first retort was to say that Musk did do something single-handedly, immediately after which you name at least a couple of the other hands involved.
But where I don't entirely argue with you is your frustration that Dems didn't dispute the election more than they did. Although I doubt there was much, if any, available dispute they could prove. The bigger problem, though, was that considering Gore's now remote dispute about the '00 election, and Trump's dispute about the '20 election, if Dems had made a crusade about the very next presidential election, we would be stuck with no election ever passing without getting bogged down in disputes. If you argue that even if that was true, Donnie should never have anything at all conceded to him, I won't disagree. It was, in its way, a very difficult position for Harris. Should she dispute the gerrymandering, the last minute challenges to votes, or what? All worthy material to dispute. But American politics and government were carefully constructed not to be like that. I think the "cure" might be that Donnie and Elon, and the rest of them, are going to do a great deal more damage, and the public will then learn the critical lesson about Reps. We can't save the voters from themselves at this point without appearing just to be the next round of whiners. And they'll disqualify us if we try.
Fred Jonas, regarding your first paragraph, you're correct. My choice of words could've been more exact but my point was it was eVIlon musk's-magats'-putin's concerted effort to corrupt, distort and hijack this November 2024 election and they committed it, most unfortunately.
Please, never ever make any equivalence between this really stolen november 2024 election with tRumputin's frivolous baseless lies about 2020 election!! those equivalences are false!!
I've followed Stephen Spoonamore's and SmartElections' logic and they're sound.
Vel Santic, we should all be very careful about indicting elections as having been stolen. Donnie's indictment was proven wrong by over 60 court cases and all 50 governors. No one has proven the '24 result wrong. It's infuriating if it was contributed to by last minute disqualifications of votes, and, in a colloquial sense, it does not pass the smell test, but no one has subjected it to the kind of examination that could result in proof. Should she have? It's hard to say. Clearly, if this was as obvious and demonstrable to her as it is to you, she would have. But whether she prevailed or she didn't, we further cement that no election is over until the complainers and rebels finish some protracted crusade of complaining and challenging. "Peaceful transfer of power" includes that you take lumps you don't want to take, and move on. Gore was right. Donnie was not. Harris had nothing to work with, or she would have challenged. And it's too late now. No one cares if someone launches spitballs claiming it was theft by Donnie, Elon, the Russians, or anyone else.
Donnie's going to do a lot of damage. It'll be worse than before. Let's hope the public/voters come to understand the problem better this time. I encourage you to use your passion to enlighten, and not waste it with chastising. Elon will be out of there soon enough anyway. He and Donnie are competing for the spotlight each of them craves, and Donnie has the power. It's being mentioned increasingly frequently now. Donnie will tell Elon "you're fired." And frankly, Elon won't give a shit, because he already has vastly more money than he could possibly figure out what to do with, and all he wants is more. He's just addicted to money, even though it stopped having meaning to him a long time ago.
Again, any false equivalences of this weird 2024 election with the clean and transparent 2020 Biden's win - are NOT to be made by anyone!! Kamala Harris and Democrats did not, tragically, dare to even examine nor investigate this really bizarre election 2024 results because she and Democrats were paralyzed of terror of eVIlon-tRumputinists PROJECTIONIST false equivalences instantly thrown at them by msm about, paraphrasing "bla-bla-bla, election-denying, bla-bla-bla, conspiracy-theorists, bla-bla-bla, undermining bla-bla-bla transfer bla-bla-bla of power Democrats bla-bla-bla" (unquote) - but that IS what IS uniquely tragical about USA the way it is in this shape and form - its keenness to self-sabotage its own democracy through tRumputinist projections, obfuscations, false equivalencies.
Stephen Spoonamore's and SmartElections' Duties to Warn were, precisely because knowing that allowing eVIlon musk-tRumputin back on power will have been the point of no return, not "only" much worse than last time, only the expertly calls to examine and investigate with hand counting this 2024 elections, they were NOT calling for anything less nor anything more!! But I see it's impossible to even make one you understand the crucial importance of this 'cause you Fred Jonas too succumbed to the false equivalencies.
most unfortunately, I wish I could see any hope from this point onward. I would love more than anything than to be able to say I see a hope but since I can not lie, I can't. I'm totally physically, psychologically and financially exhausted because this existential fight to survive has been taking my entire life as I, most unfortunately, hail from the tragical region of former yugoslavia and have been Legal Immigrant in America all the time, uninterrupted from 1997-2016 (it's obvious why I was, indirectly or directly, expelled from USA in summer of 2016 i.e. because of the unbearable tRumputinmania of western Pennsylvania that year where I was destined by immigration organizations to reside).
I wish you all the best luck in your speculations about the dynamics of eVIlon musk-tRumputin relations, however, the rest of Modern West, NATO and the world can NOT depend on NOR dread tRumputinist america that chose to become another terrorist putin's of russia satellite, anymore. America most tragically in its own stockholm-syndrome allowed itself to become hijacked from outside and inside - something that the rest of the Modern West, NATO and the world must never ever allow happen to them/us!!
Vel Santic, there is no false equivalence. Donnie took his complaints to over 60 courts and 50 governors, and he lost. We have a legal system, Donnie tried to use it, and he lost. He didn't stop whining, but for four years, he wasn't in office, despite his raging assertions.
Harris, if she had evidence, could have used the same legal system. Your funny spellings of names of people, or your rage and resentment about being exiled back to Yugoslavia, are not evidence.
Wholeheartedly agree, plus do away with large corporate PACS and all Super PACS. It would be startling to many people just how much the general tone of elections would change without the sensationalist and often highly falsified information spread by printed mailers and televised political ads.
Until Reagan, broadcast media were required to broadcast emergency alerts for free. Reagan excused them from this requirement. We need that back, and we need all political advertising to be free, and every candidate gets the same amount of exposure as every other candidate. And no one can spend anything beyond what everyone gets for free. And short campaign seasons, too. So no one gets to spend a year or more flooding the public with unresponded-to lies.
Don't be fooled by these two individuals from New York. One is Repub-lite. She is true to her roots in conservative Western New York. And the Mayor; he's the poster child for "Defund the Police". They are comparable to that beloved DC duo of Manchin and Sinema.
The 2 jerks who voted against Bidens Build Back Better agenda which would have helped alot of average Americans. Why I don't give the DNC any donations. We need another FDR
Yes, we do need another FDR, or at the very least an LBJ. It will take a lot of work to undo the damage done over the last forty odd years.
NY needs a better candidate for governor
She's gonna cave when Trump comes knocking on her door.
I appreciate Lucas’s substack. I feel saddened the direction the government and people are going. It is hard to look at and easier to say nothing can be done and look away. It was sad the CEO was assassinated but I think of the school children who fear what will happen at school. I am 70 and that did not enter into my thoughts when I was at school, we need to keep analyzing and not to look away and to do what we can. I am so sorry you did not win you would have brought light into the darkness.
Keep it up Lucas! Your analysis is important and well-wrought.