Remember that brief moment when the political news media tried to sell New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu as a “normal” or “moderate” Republican? As he ends his term as governor and prepares to embark on a career as a lobbyist in the private sector, Sununu made a stop by CNN’s “State Of The Union” with Dana Bash to pad his resume with good references in a MAGA-controlled Washington.
Sununu began by making some tepid remarks about Trump needing to keep his promises to reduce the debt and be fiscally responsible or risk Republicans losing the next elections like they did in 2018 and 2020. Of course, the idea that a Trump who’s no longer bound by reelection would suddenly turn a new leaf on debt, fiscal responsibility, or even keeping to an oath is hilariously naive.
Sununu, however, dedicated most of his time on CNN to kissing the ring of the real overlord of our country: apartheid emerald mine nepo bab and Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk.
SUNUNU: My argument to the Republicans on the Hill here, are [sic] America has stood up in 2024 and say they want to break through the establishment, the traditional bubble of Washington, D.C. They want a little bit of disruption.
As we’ve said before: it is a huge red flag when anyone uses “disruption” unironically as a positive compliment. It often masquerades idiocy as profound wisdom.
For Sununu, we believe it is that he’s fallen for the propaganda of who Elon Musk wants people to think he is instead of who he truly is.
SUNUNU: Now, Elon, I think, is very unique, in that he’s an engineer. I’m
obviously very partial to engineers.
Heh, OK.
According to most sources, Elon Musk went to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where he received bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics in 1997. After graduation, Musk moved to California to pursue a PhD in energy physics but he left the course in just two days and focused on his first company Zip2. He sold Zip2 in 1999 to Compaq Computer Corporation for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options. By 2000, he was the second richest person in the world with a $100 billion net worth.
Notice what’s missing in all that educational summary? The word “engineer.”
Musk may be rich enough to hire the best engineers he can afford or love to write C++ code for fun, but that suddenly doesn’t bestow him with credentials he didn’t earn.
While we are certain that Sununu has drunk the proverbial Flavor-Aid of Musk’s PR, he’s also salivating over the possibility of Musk Trojan horsing a very unpopular Republican policy.
SUNUNU: What they want to do in their opportunity with the political momentum of this election is to build something lasting with a balanced budget amendment, taking on, maybe not tomorrow, but understanding the challenges of Social Security are real. I mean, everyone’s Social Security benefits get cut 17 percent in eight years.
BASH: But Trump’s already saying he’s not going to touch Social Security.
SUNUNU: And that’s the challenge, getting over — getting over that political hump […] They should be on the table. It doesn’t mean they have to do it tomorrow, but they at least have to think constructively, OK, we will set up a commission, we will set up guidelines, we will set up metrics to say we’re going to achieve… […] Nobody even wants to touch this third rail. My argument is, the American people — that’s old way of thinking. The American people are saying, touch it, do it, fix this thing, because we don’t want our benefits cut, we don’t want Medicare to disappear.
The Republican Party is incapable of new or popular ideas, so they keep trying to invent new ways to wrap unpopular ones to try to get Americans to swallow them. This is why when Bash brings up Musk’s very clear conflicts of interest, being a recipient of up to $4.9 billion in US government subsidies, Sununu has to pretend it has no effect in his appointment overseeing “government efficiency” cuts.
SUNUNU: Elon is a billionaire outsider, first, I don’t mind that they’re billionaires. I like people that are successful. Where the difference is whether they’re billionaire or broke, I’d rather have someone successful. And I like that it’s an outsider and an engineer, and not a wild politician and not looking for anything out of the game.
“Outsider.” “Engineer.” Bootlickers do indeed like to lick boots.
BASH: Well, he’s not that much of an outsider. In fact, one of the criticisms and the concerns is that he has billions of dollars tied up in government contracts. You don’t see a conflict of interest here?
SUNUNU: Everyone has a conflict of interest at some level.
BASH: But that’s like a pretty big one.
SUNUNU: True. The guy’s worth $450 billion as of today and this month. So I don’t think he’s doing it for the money.
Few things:
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Musk is driven by money and power, and appears willing to do almost anything to acquire more of both.
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If the subsidies he gets were cut tomorrow, we imagine he’d be singing quite. different tune from the one he’s sung previously. Also, what obviously false bravado:
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He’s a political chameleon, shifting allegiances and rhetoric to suit his ambitions. He was a Democrat, like many in Silicon Valley were, until it became advantageous to align with pro-corporate candidates as the political tides shifted.
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We’re old enough to remember when calling anything “too big to fail” was a bad thing.
Witnessing our future being handed to oligarchs truly shows we are living in a very “historic” time. And by historic we mean terrible.
Have a week and a new year!
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