As Elon Musk expands his reach, Washington worries

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/22/elon-musk-ukraine-russia-washington-lawmakers/
https://archive.ph/AkGFE

As Elon Musk expands his reach, Washington worries
Many lawmakers see the billionaire as too powerful and increasingly reckless
By Mary Jordan
October 22, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Between launching four astronauts and 54 satellites into orbit, unveiling an electric freight truck and closing in on taking over Twitter this month, Elon Musk made time to offer unsolicited peace plans for Taiwan and Ukraine, antagonizing those countries’ leaders and irking Washington, too.

Musk, the richest man in the world, then irritated some Pentagon officials by announcing he didn’t want to keep paying for his private satellite service in Ukraine, before later walking back the threat.

Citing Musk’s public ridicule of those who snub him — the billionaire has called President Biden a “damp sock puppet” and said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reminds him of “my friend’s angry mom” — many of the two dozen top government officials interviewed for this article would only speak about Musk on the condition of anonymity. But nearly all described him as being as erratic and arrogant as he is brilliant.

“He sees himself as above the presidency,” said Jill Lepore, a Harvard historian who hosted podcasts on Musk.

His bipartisan efforts once helped him win over Washington. He dined with President Barack Obama and joined President Donald Trump’s economic councils. He donated to candidates of both parties. Now, he bashes Biden and says he plans to vote for a Republican president in 2024.

[intrepidity]

1. Wealth has it's own nationality and allegience. nt

[Sucha NastyWoman]

2. He is unstable.

You cannot take him at his word.

[C Moon]

3. He's saying if he gets Twitter he'll cut employees by 75%.

WTF?
In other words, the end of Twitter.
Gee, do you think this guy is working for the extreme right?

[OtterDave]

4. I think about Musk 24/7

He is all I think about! Am I unusual?

[ananda]

5. ROFL

[Baitball Blogger]

6. How does that saying go?

The weapons that will destroy America are already here. Capitalism unfettered is a dangerous weapon.

I always knew that allowing the Space program to privatize was a huge mistake.

And I am closely watching how the Catholic religion is taking over the health and medical industry AND the Supreme Court. What could possibly go wrong?

[dalton99a]

7. It was a scam to enrich billionaires

In a speech at the Kennedy Center in Florida, NASA’s recently retired administrator, Steve Jurczyk, said: “We’re going to do the research and the technology development and be the enablers for continuing to support the commercial space sector.”

[bluestarone]

8. YES! this man could turn out to be an actual RICH MONSTER.

TFG was a FAKE (rich) monster. MONSTER but not rich. musk could be lots of trouble for our country.

[betsuni]

9. Yet again, I ask why anyone thinks the U.S. is an oligarchy.

It's not.