I never imagined I would write this, but yes: thank you, Elon Musk! Thank you to this drug-addicted, megalomaniac brute, thank you to the man who thought he could reduce the US deficit by relying on a bunch of prepubescent imbeciles, thank you to the embodiment of the power of money, yes, thank you to this deeply detestable man, because thanks to him, Trump is finally seen for what he is: a grotesque, incompetent and destructive windbag.
Thanks to Elon Musk, because he said and even shouted the obvious, the United States and the world have now realised that this president who said he wanted to reduce the US debt was only propelling it to unprecedented heights. The richest man in the world made this obvious even though there is no fundamental difference between him and his former friend.
One wanted the new tax cuts for the wealthiest to be offset by cuts in public investment and social spending, while the other, because he has to think about not losing the upcoming elections, did not dare touch the most popular social budgets.
The only difference between them is in the means by which they seek to favour the richest, but this fight didn’t just show that Donald Trump is totally out of his mind. It also made it clear that the US finances are in such bad shape that this giant now has feet of clay.
Donald Trump’s image is changing. We suddenly see that instead of restoring America’s greatness, he is cheerfully diminishing it, that he never stops lying to others and to himself, and that in almost five months in power, absolute power since he controls both Houses, he has achieved nothing and failed on all fronts.
The reintroduction of customs barriers? What we have come to remember about is that Trump Always Chickens Out, ‘TACO’ for short.
The end of the war in Ukraine in one day? We would laugh if it weren’t so sad.
Reducing the budget deficit? We know.
The new Gaza Riviera? That obscenity didn’t last long.
On the other hand, the Atlantic Alliance has been shaken to its foundations, the international image of the United States and its democracy have been permanently damaged, the division of the country has never been greater since the Civil War, and rating agencies and central banks are beginning to question the strength of the American economy.
It would be difficult to imagine a worse track record. To try to distract attention from this, Donald Trump event sent troops to Los Angeles, but Musk did more than just expose the emperor’s new clothes. He clearly implied that he intended to spark and finance a third political movement in the United States, neither Democrat nor Trumpist. This kind of attempt has never really succeeded in American history, but apart from the fact that Donald Trump has freed up space by taking control of the Republican Party, Elon Musk would only need to shift a few percentage points of the vote to make Donald Trump lose his majority in the House and probably even in the Senate.
This is a second reason to thank him, because nothing is more urgent for democracy than weakening the Kremlin’s useful idiot.
(Photo: Steve Jurvetson @ Flickr)
