Looks like Elon could be next to be run out if Trump still cares about polls. As Rachel Maddow reported last night a recent Economist/YouGov poll shows “support among Republicans for Elon Musk falling sharply by 21 points – from 47% just after the November election – to 26% this week.” Support among both Democrats and Independents for Musk having a lot of involvement in our government is only 6% — what Maddow described as tooth decay level of approval.
I think what would really force Musk to get out of DOGE would be if the media puts a lot of focus on the fact that Trump is letting Musk quickly revamp our air safety system. Even the precious lives of billionaires who only fly on their personal private jets — with the Supreme Court Justices they own — will be threatened by Musk’s “move fast and break things” ideology.
Which one do professional oddsmakers think is more likely to accidently fall out a window? A "Defenestration Ratio" should tell us who actually owns whom.
The DOGE team also includes crypto grifters with impressively dodgy histories who should probably not be allowed anywhere near America's financial infrastructure
What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. They're content to be nothing more than talking heads with zero power? Because that's what they will, with zero power except to rubber-stamp Trump's appointments, if Musk succeeds. Although I suppose, based on their absolute inability to get anything done, they've already abdicated. Governing is hard, being a talking head is fun?
I just got a reply from my R congressman about Elon. He claims Elon "...is unpaid, and in full compliance with the law." Ha. Ha. Ha.
He also is in "full support" of Elon's "cost cutting".
The next letter I sent to him I accused him of abrogating his responsibilities as a member of Congress. If trump wants to make cuts, Congress should be the starting point not Elon or DOGE.
It's plain to see that Elon doesn't care about cost cutting. He sees this as a means to dismantle the US government. That's the really frightening prospect.
I have noticed over the years that the wealthy I have known feel no responsibility to contribute to the 'general welfare and common good'. They think it is ALL their money and they want it back - with interest. They all have their 'Nut' - money they have squirreled away offshore so the 'takers' cannot get at it. We all need to stand up and make it clear that Musk-tRump cannot destroy the government. Support any Civil Servants you know and appeal to their patriotism. Protest. Call and write your congress critters. It is all we have right now.
I think regulation is a big deal to Musk. The idea that anyone would stand in his way in any way shape or form is a personal insult. The EPA calls him on killing birds with space X...instead of coming up with mitigations he'll destroy the entire department.
I saw Elon quoted recently -I think within the past few days or maybe a couple of weeks- that we should get rid of "all regulations." Before adding that we can always reinstate any that we might later decide we need.
Well, this opens the door for someone (hackers, the DNC, a disgruntled Treasury programmer) to pull the data on payments to Trump, the family Trump, the deep state Trump, Elon, and any other grifter in Trump's orbit.
Apparently access to what were once very secure databases are now legally open source for anyone to gather info.
MSNBC reported yesterday (Maddow) that one of Elon's flying monkeys has a start-up that hires cyber hackers, and the domain is registered in Russia; he has another domain registered in China. My jaw dropped; is it too late? How much info has been stolen? 😳
Yes...as Paul wrote , the real motives are becoming clear even at their break neck speed....which is why the SAND is absolutely essential....and I suspect it will fall on every American, in one way or another ..to Show up FOR their Country and save it....that is the only way to topple an Autocrat. Nobody left on the couch :)
My congressman Nancy Mace is so far over in TrumphukWorld that she’s absolloootly HOPELESS. On top of that I’ve got Lying Lascivious Lindsay as one Senator and Timorous Timmy Scott as the other…. I’ve sent messages to them and received vanilla fudge “thank you very mush” replies. Congressman Clyburn sent a much more responsive letter back …
The question is when you live in a virulent red state what can you do?
Does railing on Substack accomplish anything? Down heah in Charleston I’m not sure where to go to protest…
Richard, I hear you. It feels like you are pissing in the wind. One suggestion is to donate to legal groups such as Lawfare that are fighting the autogolpe in the courts.
Yup!! And support Congresspeople and Senators who have the cojones to stand up — I’ve out done $$$s behind some. I yelled at Kaine for voting to confirm The Suckretary for Inferior Noem. What approve any of these jackals and sycophants??
That's a great question .. I don't know. I'm not anything more than a keyboard warrior myself.
You could .. stand at a corner of some intersection with a smile and a sign that says, "America, Musk's New South Africa"? Or, simply a sign that says "Trump, please start following our Laws" with the subtext that he is a felon? Or .. here's a half-baked idea .. ask the City attorney If they're willing to do some community outreach and say please follow law? The leading idea being, if the city attorney is not willing to encourage lawful behavior, then that's a statement in and of itself.
Krugman here is suggesting that federal employees who remain in their job (and not take the bogus resignation "ask") are, to borrow a phrase, The thin Blue Line that saves us from the bad people doing the bad thing to our government.
So the puzzle Of knowing the right Civic Action to, to me starts with understanding how the country works, given that we are part what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine, plus, some high moral views about freedom and liberty, all baked into the same cake, sprinkled with lots of really wonderful and interesting people.
If the US fiscal system seizes up because of Musk’s minions coding, will the value of the US dollar shrivel and affect your congressman personally? Will Americans targeted by Mump create a hyper local currency to survive (it happened during the Great Depression), thereby decreasing the value of the dollar in economic transactions? If that happens, your congressman could be personally affected. I wish Dr. Krugman would revisit one of his first newsletters in which he said the dollar will eventually be replaced as the world reserve currency, but it will take decades. In light of what we know now, does he still think that timeline holds up? Swiss Francs and even Japanese Yen are starting to look more desirable than the US dollar.
My republican senators lie to me also. I will continue to call them daily and challenge the lies and speak the truth. I’m unsure how effective it will be, but I don’t know what else I can do.
The Congressional Republicans are still afraid of him. Once his popularity numbers drop they will lose their loyalty. Don't buy a Tesla, if you have one sell it quick and cheap. Delete, don't abandon your Facebook account, delete don't abandon your Twitter account. Those stock prices will decliny and his popularity with them. We all need to make him unpopular. Blame everything on Trump. Trump taxes (the tarrifs). Trump egg prices. Trumpflation.
At this point it is more about money than power. They lost all their power to MAGA. Trump owns them. They cannot survive a primary if they show any opposition to Trump. But they can grift off of Trump and MAGA.
Their aim in the last 40 years has been to destroy the federal state. They now have all the tools they've always dreamt of. They are not useless idiots. They want this and are happy with the situation. I expect them to double down on cuts to any program helping people and laws fueling hatred.
Not a matter of trust, as I tried to make clear. It's a matter of fear. Roberts and Barrett are not yet utterly deranged. To nullify the Constitution in the teeth of an outraged public would be very dangerous for them, even physically. They don't to live in constant dread.
They ignore the law. Enough public anger would have to be a massive - and possibly violent - response. It might be a while before it reaches that boiling point, and I for one am not looking forward to that.
Yet DOJ lawyers are showing up response to the lawsuits seeking to stop the Musketeers and bhaving themselves in court, as per Roger Parloff's blow by blow.
And we see that one of the two 'SGEs' that these DOJ lawyers identified as having "read only" IT priviledges at Treasury, Elez, has reportedly been booted from DOGE for eugenicist postings, just too Nazi, for public opinion.
So, not ignoring law, not ignoring public opinion. Think we'll be spared what you fear.
I wouldn't quite say I fear it. Quite the contrary, I'm ready to join it - if necessary. That doesn't mean I look forward to it. I would just prefer to avoid it - if possible.
If you are a Republican Congressman, perhaps you fear for more than loss of your seat in Government. I would not be surprised to see the coming months/years feature Trump-inspired violence against those who oppose his rule. Why have so many GOPers who have left government remained silent? Fear?
Look what they did to Joni Ernst with the Hegseth nomination. Threatened her in all different ways including siccing MAGA maniacs on her. Now she has to go around with Musk claiming that the reason he's taking over the Treasury is because fraud is causing inflation.
Also, in the NYT analysis of the relationship between Trump/Musk that seemed to develop overnight, some republicans were quoted anonymously. That made me wonder if they didn't want their data sold on the dark web as retribution.
As George Washington warned us in his farewell address, party (what he called faction in the language of the time) could short circuit checks and balances of the new form of government, because the faction would be more loyal to the party than to the country.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
I have stopped calling the lower chamber the "House of Representatives" for the time being. To me, it is now the "Camera dei fasci e della corporazioni." With about the same amount of power as that chamber had in fascist Italy.
"What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. "
When a Congressional Republican publicly opposes Trump, they receive an avalanche of death threats against both them and their families. They come by email, phone, and snail mail, and they often get doxxed on social media.
They're largely empty threats; after all, no one who has opposed Trump in the past has yet been murdered, but I guess they have to take them seriously.
Not defending Republicans here. They had their chance to throw Trump out of office in January 2017 and they didn't do it.
I agree, the GOP are in it all the way up to their necks. It’s so disgusting how they are selling our country without even blinking. They care nothing about the People. And they’re afraid of trump. Just like him, the GOP want power, status, money, and all the perks.
Can congressional Republicans be impeached? Nobody's got the time to wait for the next election. Although I hear they are being plenty hassled. There's a lot of calls placed to congressional Democrats at least, time for these Republicans to get calls or investigations. Seems a pretty good bet that it's those who would stand to gain from the new world order that are staying passive right now.
Take a look at https://bondsforthewin.com/ which talks about the surety bond that each public official has to have. With enough complaints on their bond, they can't get another one, so can't hold office.
As with other Federal officers, impeachment of Congressmembers, SCOTUS, POTUS, Federal Judges, etc., requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate, which has convicted a double handful of judges. A dozen or so other officials resigned before the Senate could act.
Congress has taken a seat because of a perceived threat of violence and retribution. Trump has already made it clear he intends to punish those who oppose him, and he's making good on that promise.
Thank you, this has given me a bit of hope. I’m a probationary fed who will hit my year mark in March. I want to work for my federal government, I believe in the US, i love my country! I have my favorite presidents tattooed on my arm so I should be “patriotic” enough for these people? But evidently not, since I believe in the sanctity of our institutions & rule of law (not to mention letting individuals do with their lives what they want).
Your righteous anger is a beautiful thing. I just do hope our Democratic electeds find a way to get their own house in order before it’s too late. The early signs are not promising. Interesting poll here from Stanley Greenberg at Democracy Corp shows the Democrats have lost a key portion of all segments of their base on several issues: https://prospect.org/politics/2025-02-03-what-is-donald-trumps-mandate/. Side note, while I agree DEI is being used as a distraction, it is in fact a mess, and our side does need to recalibrate its stance on that. We do ourselves no favors if we become entrenched in support for things that don’t work and are likely doing harm. Here’s a good piece from a lifelong, progressive educator about that: https://intrepidednews.com/dismantling-dei-to-reimagine-purpose/.)
Thanks K., yes, you are right to point that out, and I didn’t mean to suggest that’s what the poll said, but rather, on that score, was responding to a statement PK made in the article. DEI is a complicated issue, and there are many parts of it that have gone seriously off the rails, so I don’t see that as a distraction, but something to work together to fix. That said, what we know for sure is that it won’t be treated as complicated by this admin. My spouse—who has a lot of experience in this area as an educator—and I were just talking about this on our morning walk, teasing out the good and not so good aspects. For example, accommodations to allow those with disabilities to participate fully in public life are part of it, too. I just wish our Democratic electeds would not so often be so intensely reactive, find a way to acknowledge that there is a need for course corrections here as elsewhere, then demonstrate how to do this compassionately. Perhaps this is a fond hope, but I want to think that if our electeds did that more, rather than shying away from problematic issues, I think the party overall would command more respect, which would be helpful about now.
I'll pass that along to Ivanka, whose Female Forward agenda is a big part of what Donald is trying to boot from USAID - You know, those programs that empower women in areas where they are economically and physically at risk. Could be Texas, could be Afghanistan or Africa. I find it ironic that a Dad who introduced his daughter to Russian and South American criminals as business partners would object to a little DEI in the workplace. Whatever.
I agree about the autogolpe. But it's also important to keep in mind the purpose of the autogolpe, which is to undo all social progress since the New Deal and return the US to a 19th century laissez-faire form of government, so the rich and businesses don't have to pay taxes and businesses aren't regulated. Paul likes to refer to the federal government as an insurance company with an army. The orange turd and his supporters want to get rid of the insurance company. A secondary goal is to promote white Christian nationalism, focusing on the cult of the unborn fetus, limiting women to traditional housewife roles, treating Black and brown people as subhuman and excluding them from the economic life of the country, and legally allowing discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
Thanks for this reply. After seeing the list of what is being called wasteful spending by the USAID is only garnering more support among his base and pulling more folks in to the support of their tactics.
Reminds me of white house down. Where is rambo? Nowhere as he supports trumpinetto like most of those cheap actors. Anybody supporting maga is a traitor to AMERICA! Time for a counter coup? Cut starlink. Get out from twitter. Do not buy tesla. Fuck bitcoin
Please, this talk of “saving democracy” annoys the hell out of me. That’s so abstract it’s meaningless to the average American. Please say “protecting the rule of law”, and “honoring legal contracts”, like Social Security and Medicare, etc. We all need to clean up our language, and thanks for “autogolpe”, which is a far better conversation starter than “coup”.🤗
This. Spot, fucking, on! Framing really is key here.
The GOP half of the voting citizenry has already been conditioned by FOX News to interpret "Saving democracy" as "Our hero Trump has the Dems whining and very upset." Which actually makes them very pleased with themselves.
But "protecting the rule of law" is something that hits 'em right between the eyes, and gets through. More or less. It a universal values call for us 'Mehricuns that transcends political tribalism.
The more the message can be dumbed down, the better. I’d suggest, “they’re coming for your Social Security and Medicare” or “Musk’s team now has your bank routing number from your taxes.” Fear mongering in simple terms seems to work.
While I agree that “saving democracy” is rather broad brush — IT IS WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO! Yes it involves “protecting the rule of law” and such … But we are in real danger of losing the very basis of our lives and liberty in a free society.
Sorry to even posit this as a possibility on a Krugman article, but I'm afraid we're heading toward "extralegal" responses to the outright theft of our Constitution and our government, with high-profile goniffs getting targeting. I mean, if one steals another person's livelihood, that calls for extraordinary actions, which includes 2nd Amendment "solutions" in the minds of many affected people, mark my words.
The assassination of the UHC CEO, Brian Thompson, was described as a reaction to denial of life-saving medical attention...what happens when tens of thousands of people are unceremoniously and illegally denied their jobs, thence their paychecks? Their means of economic and financial well-being? Writing one's Congressional Rep? Really?
You understand Framing, right? This particular concept needs to be Framed twice: for Liberals, and separately for Trump voters. "Respect the law" for the latter; "Save democracy" for the former.
Because FOX and RW media has already Framed "save democracy" for the conservative media consumer to mean that "liberals are crybaby elitist whiners upset over President Trump's manly efforts to bring down the price of eggs."
Spot on! I’ve been thinking about this a lot because Trump and the Republican/MAGA machine kick our ass in messaging (always have, IMO). We try to cram paragraphs worth of ideals and values into pithy sayings and then assume “message delivered”.
I don’t even like using the words “protecting the rule of law” anymore. It’s so overused by both parties that it’s become trite. And Musk is making breaking the law look cool (Billy the Kid-style)
American citizens need to understand this:
Democracy says “you are in charge and you run this show. You are the boss”
Trump says “shut the hell up and get out of my way. You are meaningless”
Americans really don’t like to be told what to do.
Or try, "Respect the Constitution," "don't be a lawbreaker," or as TomR posted above, "Don't let them steal your Social Security and Medicare."
I'm particularly fond of using their own Frames against them: "Drain the Swamp!" (in response to Trump/Musk grifting); "Fake News!" (whenever FOX News comes up with another whopper).
As a Japanese with love (not uncritical one) to America, it has always been unbelievable for me to read US newspapers which wrote of Musk as if all he is doing in Washington for some political ideology or beliefs.
Isn’t it so obvious that he is doing all the things all those things, including changing laws and rules, cutting federal government arms, and getting federal financial datum, to benefit himself? Of course, he is not alone: he is just a most obvious example of those Trump tribe. But it’s still attempted stage.
I am glad that many Americans are awaking from the initial shocks, and beginning to resist to the Attempted Coup.
Yes it is obvious to the rest of the world and to those of us paying attention, but many of our US mainstream news organizations owned by. oligarchs have become mouthpieces for Trump's propaganda.
This is all about one thing and one thing only - stealing as much money from as many poor and middle class people as possible to give to Musk and a few other greedy billionaires as tax cuts. This will hurt more MAGAs than coastal liberals, and they won't see it coming because Fox won't tell them.
Trump once said, "I only got going when I learned to talk Shallow". By which he revealed several things:
- detail is for shmucks
- truth is for schmucks
- self-contradiction doesn't matter. X pleases some people, not-X pleases others,
and I get to be like a slippery eel because I've already agreed with whatever your complaint was, critics give up, eventually no-one cares, everyone gets careless
- I can say what I really mean and my enemies don't see it
- my communication with my base, which gets me power, is just pure feeling, with no content other than fantasy, to the point of group hypnosis, when I do a fist sway back and forth, like a cobra
- lying is good. It leaves me free wade around in a can't -touch-me zone.
It's a coup attempt all right. One of the points made in The Dictator's Handbook (Mesquita & Smith, 2011) is the guys seizing power get hold of the money.
Super true, especially in this day and age where the owner of the website that had brutally terse, 140 word comments is now second in charge of the country.
What a perfect moment in history for Paul to break free from the "legacy journalists" and tell us what he really thinks. Jumped to the top of my stack of subs.
Have you noticed how many NYT journalists are writing their final column lately? Their coverage is shifting. Mostly entertainment, a little headline liberal stuff. They ditched business news a few years ago.
"A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions, or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.… The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.…" - Henry Wallace
Professor Krugman: workers that have accepted the buyout were likely planning to leave anyway? according to the most recent information, 60,000 government workers have accepted the buyout. that's rather a lot, don't you think? do these people naively think they are going to be paid by two plutocrats who got rich partially by not paying their bills?
and speaking of public crises, let's spend a few seconds thinking about the PUBLIC HEALTH crisis unfolding in ameriKKKa: there are now at least two types of bird flus that are widely circulating, both of which are deadly, especially to animals, which means you meat-eaters are in deep shit, at the very least. tuberculosis is now breaking out in a number of states and cities. the occurrence of polio and measles and covid-19 and RSV are all on on a steep increase. so in short, musk and his sidekick, the orange toddler, don't have to declare war or start shooting people (with bullets) because they instead are going to destroy a significant portion of the country by allowing and supporting infectious diseases to be their agents of doom.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Antibiotic [strikeout] impervious [/strikeout] resistant bacteria, global warming, the next viral pandemic, and even the triumphant return of nukes, all promise to do us in.
Everyone reading this, outside of the occasional troll, probably greatly appreciates everything you say about it not yet succeeding.
But we all live in a relatively small echo chamber. What makes dictatorships successful is when the majority of the population remains silent and only wakes up too late and for all the wrong reasons.
I think one of the best ways right now to wake people up to *a* right reason is by complaining loudly about the price of eggs. As a conversation starter.
America still cares very much about it's pocketbook, and the continued rising prices while blatant financial risk of millions is going on is a bipartisan concern. Bring on the civil lawsuits for $$$ lost from reckless announcements, leaked information, etc. The right strategy is happening - counter-distraction will slow them down and time is clearly of the essence if they are literally sleeping in the buildings. Court orders challenging their legitimacy to be in the building will also help prevent interference. Time for the Aviation Authority to get a restraining order to keep them from the building.
Excellent column. I think that the autogolpe (thanks for that term) is also about racial re-segregation and purging, as well as depriving all women of their rights. I don't think we can ignore the blatant attempts in that direction, including the eugenicist (just one?) on Elon's team, as well as the attack on the 14th amendment, the assumption that DEI means "inferior" hires, the casual racism in their comments. The DOGE efforts are being led by a guy who did a Hitler salute--twice.
Federal transportation funds being directed to places with more births (like Utah) rather than high cost-of-living urban centers smacks of that line of thinking.
All Paul writes is true and correct, but I think there's one other aspect to the supposed buy-out offer to federal employees: For the last 30 years, business success has been measured by quarterly stock price, and the one absolutely guaranteed way to make that stock price climb is to announced layoffs. Cutting headcount is success, even if slashing the workforce results in the eventual destruction of the company.
Musk has the business acumen of a bowling pin, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that much of his focus on getting rid of federal employees with based on the headcount principle of business success.
Greetings from Great Barrington. I find these letters of yours really really helpful, and agree that we've not anticipated how Trump/Musk would so quickly try to take over the government. (Though I'm not sure "autogolpe" is going to catch on. Digital coup?) Two thoughts for your consideration. We have experienced another 9/11, not only because the world is different now, and will ever be, but because no one anticipated the weapons. It seems obvious in retrospect: cyber-warfare's where it's at. I suppose the military is next. Second thought: billionaires are not buddies. They are fiercely competitive. Are there any signs of a united oligarchy, or does the system require a single dominant wolfpack leader?
Fox is no longer relevant & worthy of paying advertising expense for the oligarchs once "the uneducated, whom dear leader said he loves, will no longer have to vote again."
“Run out of DOGE.” Priceless!
Looks like Elon could be next to be run out if Trump still cares about polls. As Rachel Maddow reported last night a recent Economist/YouGov poll shows “support among Republicans for Elon Musk falling sharply by 21 points – from 47% just after the November election – to 26% this week.” Support among both Democrats and Independents for Musk having a lot of involvement in our government is only 6% — what Maddow described as tooth decay level of approval.
https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-2671112356/
I think what would really force Musk to get out of DOGE would be if the media puts a lot of focus on the fact that Trump is letting Musk quickly revamp our air safety system. Even the precious lives of billionaires who only fly on their personal private jets — with the Supreme Court Justices they own — will be threatened by Musk’s “move fast and break things” ideology.
The problem is that Musk owns drumpf.
He does. But Trump cares about Wall Street and overall MAGA support. He wants to be adored by the crowds of "his people".
Well, yes and no. Remember, trump and the Muskovites can , and did, hedge against the market. And will in the future.
To Paul: Please do t use that term,”Circling the wagons.” It doesn’t fit well with Native Americans. Hellow.
Which one do professional oddsmakers think is more likely to accidently fall out a window? A "Defenestration Ratio" should tell us who actually owns whom.
Well, technically the windows won’t open at the White House, I think you have your answer
Open? Who said anything about open?
But his job is to make his boss look good.
Maybe that is what Elon is doing, getting this sensitive government info for his own leverage. Who knows?
No doubt about it.
“Who knows”? Anyone with half a brain. Believe your lying eyes!
The DOGE team also includes crypto grifters with impressively dodgy histories who should probably not be allowed anywhere near America's financial infrastructure
https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/the-crypto-grifters-of-doge
Or government contracts.
𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩
Gulp!
What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. They're content to be nothing more than talking heads with zero power? Because that's what they will, with zero power except to rubber-stamp Trump's appointments, if Musk succeeds. Although I suppose, based on their absolute inability to get anything done, they've already abdicated. Governing is hard, being a talking head is fun?
I just got a reply from my R congressman about Elon. He claims Elon "...is unpaid, and in full compliance with the law." Ha. Ha. Ha.
He also is in "full support" of Elon's "cost cutting".
The next letter I sent to him I accused him of abrogating his responsibilities as a member of Congress. If trump wants to make cuts, Congress should be the starting point not Elon or DOGE.
It's plain to see that Elon doesn't care about cost cutting. He sees this as a means to dismantle the US government. That's the really frightening prospect.
I have noticed over the years that the wealthy I have known feel no responsibility to contribute to the 'general welfare and common good'. They think it is ALL their money and they want it back - with interest. They all have their 'Nut' - money they have squirreled away offshore so the 'takers' cannot get at it. We all need to stand up and make it clear that Musk-tRump cannot destroy the government. Support any Civil Servants you know and appeal to their patriotism. Protest. Call and write your congress critters. It is all we have right now.
Chesterson remarked "...the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
I think regulation is a big deal to Musk. The idea that anyone would stand in his way in any way shape or form is a personal insult. The EPA calls him on killing birds with space X...instead of coming up with mitigations he'll destroy the entire department.
I saw Elon quoted recently -I think within the past few days or maybe a couple of weeks- that we should get rid of "all regulations." Before adding that we can always reinstate any that we might later decide we need.
And that would be easy to reinstate things, right? Breaking things is easy, creating them is hard.
That’s a principle of capitalism.
Well, this opens the door for someone (hackers, the DNC, a disgruntled Treasury programmer) to pull the data on payments to Trump, the family Trump, the deep state Trump, Elon, and any other grifter in Trump's orbit.
Apparently access to what were once very secure databases are now legally open source for anyone to gather info.
You can easily imagine Musk's minions pocketing the Social Security data and selling it to the highest bidder.
Or veterans or federal retirees.
Highest bidder? I'm guessing those incel kids would trade key data for feet pics.
That would be Putin, in person.
Great suggestion
MSNBC reported yesterday (Maddow) that one of Elon's flying monkeys has a start-up that hires cyber hackers, and the domain is registered in Russia; he has another domain registered in China. My jaw dropped; is it too late? How much info has been stolen? 😳
C'mon Anonymous, get on it!
Good for u to keep writing your Republican Congressman- putting heat on him! Keep it up!
Show up his town halls and be vocal until security throws you out. Be careful
of your person safety, however.
Yes...as Paul wrote , the real motives are becoming clear even at their break neck speed....which is why the SAND is absolutely essential....and I suspect it will fall on every American, in one way or another ..to Show up FOR their Country and save it....that is the only way to topple an Autocrat. Nobody left on the couch :)
Sand and gum and maybe a wrench or two.
Fine! When the same congressman in a few months tries to distance himself from this coup, that answer will make a nice Exhibit A.
My congressman Nancy Mace is so far over in TrumphukWorld that she’s absolloootly HOPELESS. On top of that I’ve got Lying Lascivious Lindsay as one Senator and Timorous Timmy Scott as the other…. I’ve sent messages to them and received vanilla fudge “thank you very mush” replies. Congressman Clyburn sent a much more responsive letter back …
The question is when you live in a virulent red state what can you do?
Does railing on Substack accomplish anything? Down heah in Charleston I’m not sure where to go to protest…
Richard, I hear you. It feels like you are pissing in the wind. One suggestion is to donate to legal groups such as Lawfare that are fighting the autogolpe in the courts.
Yup!! And support Congresspeople and Senators who have the cojones to stand up — I’ve out done $$$s behind some. I yelled at Kaine for voting to confirm The Suckretary for Inferior Noem. What approve any of these jackals and sycophants??
That's a great question .. I don't know. I'm not anything more than a keyboard warrior myself.
You could .. stand at a corner of some intersection with a smile and a sign that says, "America, Musk's New South Africa"? Or, simply a sign that says "Trump, please start following our Laws" with the subtext that he is a felon? Or .. here's a half-baked idea .. ask the City attorney If they're willing to do some community outreach and say please follow law? The leading idea being, if the city attorney is not willing to encourage lawful behavior, then that's a statement in and of itself.
Krugman here is suggesting that federal employees who remain in their job (and not take the bogus resignation "ask") are, to borrow a phrase, The thin Blue Line that saves us from the bad people doing the bad thing to our government.
So the puzzle Of knowing the right Civic Action to, to me starts with understanding how the country works, given that we are part what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine, plus, some high moral views about freedom and liberty, all baked into the same cake, sprinkled with lots of really wonderful and interesting people.
If the US fiscal system seizes up because of Musk’s minions coding, will the value of the US dollar shrivel and affect your congressman personally? Will Americans targeted by Mump create a hyper local currency to survive (it happened during the Great Depression), thereby decreasing the value of the dollar in economic transactions? If that happens, your congressman could be personally affected. I wish Dr. Krugman would revisit one of his first newsletters in which he said the dollar will eventually be replaced as the world reserve currency, but it will take decades. In light of what we know now, does he still think that timeline holds up? Swiss Francs and even Japanese Yen are starting to look more desirable than the US dollar.
I suspect the MAGA King believes this will help boost the value his and Queen Melania's new crypto-currencies.
My republican senators lie to me also. I will continue to call them daily and challenge the lies and speak the truth. I’m unsure how effective it will be, but I don’t know what else I can do.
Lies Are All They Have.
It's the Iron Law of Republicans
Exactly...money doesnt motivate Musk...it only motivates Trump so its a match made in Hell.
Thanks for doing the work. Every email counts.
Didn’t Mike Johnson call what Musk/doge is doing “stewardship “? 🤢
The Congressional Republicans are still afraid of him. Once his popularity numbers drop they will lose their loyalty. Don't buy a Tesla, if you have one sell it quick and cheap. Delete, don't abandon your Facebook account, delete don't abandon your Twitter account. Those stock prices will decliny and his popularity with them. We all need to make him unpopular. Blame everything on Trump. Trump taxes (the tarrifs). Trump egg prices. Trumpflation.
At this point it is more about money than power. They lost all their power to MAGA. Trump owns them. They cannot survive a primary if they show any opposition to Trump. But they can grift off of Trump and MAGA.
Project 2025 is in full swing. They said they would go department by department and purge and replace personnel.
The Republican Senators so far, are in full compliance.
Their aim in the last 40 years has been to destroy the federal state. They now have all the tools they've always dreamt of. They are not useless idiots. They want this and are happy with the situation. I expect them to double down on cuts to any program helping people and laws fueling hatred.
They do not have the law. And only the Supreme Court can give them that. Enough public anger, and it will not dare.
Seeing what the Supreme Court did with presidential immunity, do you trust them to uphold the Constitution?
Not a matter of trust, as I tried to make clear. It's a matter of fear. Roberts and Barrett are not yet utterly deranged. To nullify the Constitution in the teeth of an outraged public would be very dangerous for them, even physically. They don't to live in constant dread.
Yes, I missed your point about fear. And I hope you're right. I think I'm becoming more and more pessimistic.
They ignore the law. Enough public anger would have to be a massive - and possibly violent - response. It might be a while before it reaches that boiling point, and I for one am not looking forward to that.
Yet DOJ lawyers are showing up response to the lawsuits seeking to stop the Musketeers and bhaving themselves in court, as per Roger Parloff's blow by blow.
And we see that one of the two 'SGEs' that these DOJ lawyers identified as having "read only" IT priviledges at Treasury, Elez, has reportedly been booted from DOGE for eugenicist postings, just too Nazi, for public opinion.
So, not ignoring law, not ignoring public opinion. Think we'll be spared what you fear.
I wouldn't quite say I fear it. Quite the contrary, I'm ready to join it - if necessary. That doesn't mean I look forward to it. I would just prefer to avoid it - if possible.
Ummm....
You are absolutely correct
..lets not forget the few people who have the guts to stand up are, in fact, mostly women.
If you are a Republican Congressman, perhaps you fear for more than loss of your seat in Government. I would not be surprised to see the coming months/years feature Trump-inspired violence against those who oppose his rule. Why have so many GOPers who have left government remained silent? Fear?
Look what they did to Joni Ernst with the Hegseth nomination. Threatened her in all different ways including siccing MAGA maniacs on her. Now she has to go around with Musk claiming that the reason he's taking over the Treasury is because fraud is causing inflation.
It's bullying via the threat of violence.
Also, in the NYT analysis of the relationship between Trump/Musk that seemed to develop overnight, some republicans were quoted anonymously. That made me wonder if they didn't want their data sold on the dark web as retribution.
As George Washington warned us in his farewell address, party (what he called faction in the language of the time) could short circuit checks and balances of the new form of government, because the faction would be more loyal to the party than to the country.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
Remarkably prescient.
I have stopped calling the lower chamber the "House of Representatives" for the time being. To me, it is now the "Camera dei fasci e della corporazioni." With about the same amount of power as that chamber had in fascist Italy.
House of Horrors? There are some D Reps who speak up and speak out. They need our unwavering support.
And a well armed security detail.
"What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. "
When a Congressional Republican publicly opposes Trump, they receive an avalanche of death threats against both them and their families. They come by email, phone, and snail mail, and they often get doxxed on social media.
They're largely empty threats; after all, no one who has opposed Trump in the past has yet been murdered, but I guess they have to take them seriously.
Not defending Republicans here. They had their chance to throw Trump out of office in January 2017 and they didn't do it.
As the resident atheist in a church choir, I offered “may elected officials get backbones” during prayer time. Lots of nods, so maybe?
No, the GOP wants this. They are part of the scheme.
And have been for decades. Direct line: McCarthy-->Nixon-->Reagan-->Bush I + Gingrich-->Bush II-->His Orange MAGA Majesty.
I agree, the GOP are in it all the way up to their necks. It’s so disgusting how they are selling our country without even blinking. They care nothing about the People. And they’re afraid of trump. Just like him, the GOP want power, status, money, and all the perks.
Can congressional Republicans be impeached? Nobody's got the time to wait for the next election. Although I hear they are being plenty hassled. There's a lot of calls placed to congressional Democrats at least, time for these Republicans to get calls or investigations. Seems a pretty good bet that it's those who would stand to gain from the new world order that are staying passive right now.
Take a look at https://bondsforthewin.com/ which talks about the surety bond that each public official has to have. With enough complaints on their bond, they can't get another one, so can't hold office.
That's an intriguing idea. It would require massive numbers though.
I don't know that it takes massive numbers: https://bondsforthewin.com/it-only-takes-10-people/
Looks like it's only for school board stuff in South Dakota. How do we do this for Senators etc? I'd be happy to and as it happens, mine is Thine.
Thune
More intriguing still.
Who is on the ethics committee? They need to get busy!
Unfortunately, the fox (Republicans) is in charge of the henhouse, so we cant count on them.
As with other Federal officers, impeachment of Congressmembers, SCOTUS, POTUS, Federal Judges, etc., requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate, which has convicted a double handful of judges. A dozen or so other officials resigned before the Senate could act.
Oh how I wish.
All the GOPee congressionals care about is low taxes and weak regulations so, of course, they're on board with the tRump/Musk Junta.
Congressional Republicans didn't surrender.
They're part of the conspiracy.
$
Congress has taken a seat because of a perceived threat of violence and retribution. Trump has already made it clear he intends to punish those who oppose him, and he's making good on that promise.
Thank you, this has given me a bit of hope. I’m a probationary fed who will hit my year mark in March. I want to work for my federal government, I believe in the US, i love my country! I have my favorite presidents tattooed on my arm so I should be “patriotic” enough for these people? But evidently not, since I believe in the sanctity of our institutions & rule of law (not to mention letting individuals do with their lives what they want).
Your righteous anger is a beautiful thing. I just do hope our Democratic electeds find a way to get their own house in order before it’s too late. The early signs are not promising. Interesting poll here from Stanley Greenberg at Democracy Corp shows the Democrats have lost a key portion of all segments of their base on several issues: https://prospect.org/politics/2025-02-03-what-is-donald-trumps-mandate/. Side note, while I agree DEI is being used as a distraction, it is in fact a mess, and our side does need to recalibrate its stance on that. We do ourselves no favors if we become entrenched in support for things that don’t work and are likely doing harm. Here’s a good piece from a lifelong, progressive educator about that: https://intrepidednews.com/dismantling-dei-to-reimagine-purpose/.)
They will not. The State is being captured and they are part of the plot.
That’s what I fear, that they are part of the plot. Good way to put it.
To perhaps clarify, the Prospect article does say that Greenberg's polling is pretty positive about DEI.
Thanks K., yes, you are right to point that out, and I didn’t mean to suggest that’s what the poll said, but rather, on that score, was responding to a statement PK made in the article. DEI is a complicated issue, and there are many parts of it that have gone seriously off the rails, so I don’t see that as a distraction, but something to work together to fix. That said, what we know for sure is that it won’t be treated as complicated by this admin. My spouse—who has a lot of experience in this area as an educator—and I were just talking about this on our morning walk, teasing out the good and not so good aspects. For example, accommodations to allow those with disabilities to participate fully in public life are part of it, too. I just wish our Democratic electeds would not so often be so intensely reactive, find a way to acknowledge that there is a need for course corrections here as elsewhere, then demonstrate how to do this compassionately. Perhaps this is a fond hope, but I want to think that if our electeds did that more, rather than shying away from problematic issues, I think the party overall would command more respect, which would be helpful about now.
I'll pass that along to Ivanka, whose Female Forward agenda is a big part of what Donald is trying to boot from USAID - You know, those programs that empower women in areas where they are economically and physically at risk. Could be Texas, could be Afghanistan or Africa. I find it ironic that a Dad who introduced his daughter to Russian and South American criminals as business partners would object to a little DEI in the workplace. Whatever.
Hang in there.
Unfortunately, the Orange Deity has redefined "patriotism" to mean fealty to the MAGA King over country or Constitution.
I agree about the autogolpe. But it's also important to keep in mind the purpose of the autogolpe, which is to undo all social progress since the New Deal and return the US to a 19th century laissez-faire form of government, so the rich and businesses don't have to pay taxes and businesses aren't regulated. Paul likes to refer to the federal government as an insurance company with an army. The orange turd and his supporters want to get rid of the insurance company. A secondary goal is to promote white Christian nationalism, focusing on the cult of the unborn fetus, limiting women to traditional housewife roles, treating Black and brown people as subhuman and excluding them from the economic life of the country, and legally allowing discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
Thanks for this reply. After seeing the list of what is being called wasteful spending by the USAID is only garnering more support among his base and pulling more folks in to the support of their tactics.
I agree with everything you written here.
Reminds me of white house down. Where is rambo? Nowhere as he supports trumpinetto like most of those cheap actors. Anybody supporting maga is a traitor to AMERICA! Time for a counter coup? Cut starlink. Get out from twitter. Do not buy tesla. Fuck bitcoin
Hey, bitcoin is down a buck!
This is what's on your mind? Silly mocking?
Come on dude, you're gonna need your sense of humor.
Bitcoin is being cast aside in favor of MAGAcoin and MrsMAGAcoin.
Say something realistic, not this ranting.
Sometimes when things are really uncomfortable and unbearable to discuss, it’s not a terrible thing to add levity to the situation.
Fascism ain’t funny.
I didn’t say it was funny. I said it was a good word to know the meaning of... I had never heard the term before.
Please, this talk of “saving democracy” annoys the hell out of me. That’s so abstract it’s meaningless to the average American. Please say “protecting the rule of law”, and “honoring legal contracts”, like Social Security and Medicare, etc. We all need to clean up our language, and thanks for “autogolpe”, which is a far better conversation starter than “coup”.🤗
This. Spot, fucking, on! Framing really is key here.
The GOP half of the voting citizenry has already been conditioned by FOX News to interpret "Saving democracy" as "Our hero Trump has the Dems whining and very upset." Which actually makes them very pleased with themselves.
But "protecting the rule of law" is something that hits 'em right between the eyes, and gets through. More or less. It a universal values call for us 'Mehricuns that transcends political tribalism.
The more the message can be dumbed down, the better. I’d suggest, “they’re coming for your Social Security and Medicare” or “Musk’s team now has your bank routing number from your taxes.” Fear mongering in simple terms seems to work.
Crude language seems to work as well. How about we warn people about government of the fuckers, by the fuckers, and for the fuckers?
While I agree that “saving democracy” is rather broad brush — IT IS WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO! Yes it involves “protecting the rule of law” and such … But we are in real danger of losing the very basis of our lives and liberty in a free society.
Sorry to even posit this as a possibility on a Krugman article, but I'm afraid we're heading toward "extralegal" responses to the outright theft of our Constitution and our government, with high-profile goniffs getting targeting. I mean, if one steals another person's livelihood, that calls for extraordinary actions, which includes 2nd Amendment "solutions" in the minds of many affected people, mark my words.
The assassination of the UHC CEO, Brian Thompson, was described as a reaction to denial of life-saving medical attention...what happens when tens of thousands of people are unceremoniously and illegally denied their jobs, thence their paychecks? Their means of economic and financial well-being? Writing one's Congressional Rep? Really?
You understand Framing, right? This particular concept needs to be Framed twice: for Liberals, and separately for Trump voters. "Respect the law" for the latter; "Save democracy" for the former.
Because FOX and RW media has already Framed "save democracy" for the conservative media consumer to mean that "liberals are crybaby elitist whiners upset over President Trump's manly efforts to bring down the price of eggs."
Spot on! I’ve been thinking about this a lot because Trump and the Republican/MAGA machine kick our ass in messaging (always have, IMO). We try to cram paragraphs worth of ideals and values into pithy sayings and then assume “message delivered”.
I don’t even like using the words “protecting the rule of law” anymore. It’s so overused by both parties that it’s become trite. And Musk is making breaking the law look cool (Billy the Kid-style)
American citizens need to understand this:
Democracy says “you are in charge and you run this show. You are the boss”
Trump says “shut the hell up and get out of my way. You are meaningless”
Americans really don’t like to be told what to do.
Or try, "Respect the Constitution," "don't be a lawbreaker," or as TomR posted above, "Don't let them steal your Social Security and Medicare."
I'm particularly fond of using their own Frames against them: "Drain the Swamp!" (in response to Trump/Musk grifting); "Fake News!" (whenever FOX News comes up with another whopper).
I reposted the last of your comment. Hope you don’t mind.
I don’t mind at all! :-D
True people should put in those terms but they also need to talk about democracy compared to dictatorships.
As a Japanese with love (not uncritical one) to America, it has always been unbelievable for me to read US newspapers which wrote of Musk as if all he is doing in Washington for some political ideology or beliefs.
Isn’t it so obvious that he is doing all the things all those things, including changing laws and rules, cutting federal government arms, and getting federal financial datum, to benefit himself? Of course, he is not alone: he is just a most obvious example of those Trump tribe. But it’s still attempted stage.
I am glad that many Americans are awaking from the initial shocks, and beginning to resist to the Attempted Coup.
I think this is right. Vought and some others may be sincere ideologues. Musk is just a greedy egomaniac.
Yes it is obvious to the rest of the world and to those of us paying attention, but many of our US mainstream news organizations owned by. oligarchs have become mouthpieces for Trump's propaganda.
Yes. That's why it's called a "kleptocracy", as well as an "oligarchy". It's basically organized crime.
This is all about one thing and one thing only - stealing as much money from as many poor and middle class people as possible to give to Musk and a few other greedy billionaires as tax cuts. This will hurt more MAGAs than coastal liberals, and they won't see it coming because Fox won't tell them.
Trump once said, "I only got going when I learned to talk Shallow". By which he revealed several things:
- detail is for shmucks
- truth is for schmucks
- self-contradiction doesn't matter. X pleases some people, not-X pleases others,
and I get to be like a slippery eel because I've already agreed with whatever your complaint was, critics give up, eventually no-one cares, everyone gets careless
- I can say what I really mean and my enemies don't see it
- my communication with my base, which gets me power, is just pure feeling, with no content other than fantasy, to the point of group hypnosis, when I do a fist sway back and forth, like a cobra
- lying is good. It leaves me free wade around in a can't -touch-me zone.
It's a coup attempt all right. One of the points made in The Dictator's Handbook (Mesquita & Smith, 2011) is the guys seizing power get hold of the money.
Super true, especially in this day and age where the owner of the website that had brutally terse, 140 word comments is now second in charge of the country.
What a perfect moment in history for Paul to break free from the "legacy journalists" and tell us what he really thinks. Jumped to the top of my stack of subs.
Have you noticed how many NYT journalists are writing their final column lately? Their coverage is shifting. Mostly entertainment, a little headline liberal stuff. They ditched business news a few years ago.
People magazine for the semiliterate.
"A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions, or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.… The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.…" - Henry Wallace
Professor Krugman: workers that have accepted the buyout were likely planning to leave anyway? according to the most recent information, 60,000 government workers have accepted the buyout. that's rather a lot, don't you think? do these people naively think they are going to be paid by two plutocrats who got rich partially by not paying their bills?
and speaking of public crises, let's spend a few seconds thinking about the PUBLIC HEALTH crisis unfolding in ameriKKKa: there are now at least two types of bird flus that are widely circulating, both of which are deadly, especially to animals, which means you meat-eaters are in deep shit, at the very least. tuberculosis is now breaking out in a number of states and cities. the occurrence of polio and measles and covid-19 and RSV are all on on a steep increase. so in short, musk and his sidekick, the orange toddler, don't have to declare war or start shooting people (with bullets) because they instead are going to destroy a significant portion of the country by allowing and supporting infectious diseases to be their agents of doom.
60,000 is 2% of 2,800,000. Not a big deal so far. Could very well be within the margins of typical turnover as far as I know.
Over 100K retire annually.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Antibiotic [strikeout] impervious [/strikeout] resistant bacteria, global warming, the next viral pandemic, and even the triumphant return of nukes, all promise to do us in.
Everyone reading this, outside of the occasional troll, probably greatly appreciates everything you say about it not yet succeeding.
But we all live in a relatively small echo chamber. What makes dictatorships successful is when the majority of the population remains silent and only wakes up too late and for all the wrong reasons.
I think one of the best ways right now to wake people up to *a* right reason is by complaining loudly about the price of eggs. As a conversation starter.
America still cares very much about it's pocketbook, and the continued rising prices while blatant financial risk of millions is going on is a bipartisan concern. Bring on the civil lawsuits for $$$ lost from reckless announcements, leaked information, etc. The right strategy is happening - counter-distraction will slow them down and time is clearly of the essence if they are literally sleeping in the buildings. Court orders challenging their legitimacy to be in the building will also help prevent interference. Time for the Aviation Authority to get a restraining order to keep them from the building.
Which is why that blanket suspension of grants was such a blunder. It scared many people, all across this country. Note how fast they backed off.
Excellent column. I think that the autogolpe (thanks for that term) is also about racial re-segregation and purging, as well as depriving all women of their rights. I don't think we can ignore the blatant attempts in that direction, including the eugenicist (just one?) on Elon's team, as well as the attack on the 14th amendment, the assumption that DEI means "inferior" hires, the casual racism in their comments. The DOGE efforts are being led by a guy who did a Hitler salute--twice.
Federal transportation funds being directed to places with more births (like Utah) rather than high cost-of-living urban centers smacks of that line of thinking.
All Paul writes is true and correct, but I think there's one other aspect to the supposed buy-out offer to federal employees: For the last 30 years, business success has been measured by quarterly stock price, and the one absolutely guaranteed way to make that stock price climb is to announced layoffs. Cutting headcount is success, even if slashing the workforce results in the eventual destruction of the company.
Musk has the business acumen of a bowling pin, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that much of his focus on getting rid of federal employees with based on the headcount principle of business success.
Or more likely, a bowling BALL. He can do much more damage that way.
I was actually thinking that myself. Spot on.
Greetings from Great Barrington. I find these letters of yours really really helpful, and agree that we've not anticipated how Trump/Musk would so quickly try to take over the government. (Though I'm not sure "autogolpe" is going to catch on. Digital coup?) Two thoughts for your consideration. We have experienced another 9/11, not only because the world is different now, and will ever be, but because no one anticipated the weapons. It seems obvious in retrospect: cyber-warfare's where it's at. I suppose the military is next. Second thought: billionaires are not buddies. They are fiercely competitive. Are there any signs of a united oligarchy, or does the system require a single dominant wolfpack leader?
What we’re going to get is a top dog with rabies.
They already threw Ramaswamy to the curb. I wonder if it was more than he could stomach. I don't think Rupert Murdoch is on board.
Fox is no longer relevant & worthy of paying advertising expense for the oligarchs once "the uneducated, whom dear leader said he loves, will no longer have to vote again."