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We didn't call them useful idiots for no reason. Naive idealists make great foot soldiers, but their reward is to be ultimately expendable. When all of the dama

We didn't call them useful idiots for no reason. Naive idealists make great foot soldiers, but their reward is to be ultimately expendable. When all of the damage from "DOGE" gets perceived as politically inconvenient, the narrative will morph into something like these were cowboys doing unauthorized things at Musk's behest, not directed or approved by Dear Leader. It's understandable how they would think otherwise because Musk fell for the same shit (first time Republican supporter didn't realize the cries about the debt are pure kayfabe, lol). But the thing Musk has is the means to insulate himself from the (direct) fallout.

watwut 11mo ago
> the narrative will morph into something like these were cowboys doing unauthorized things at Musk's behest They just knowingly broke the law. They are not saying "omg, I thought I am doing fully legal thing". They are saying "omg, the mafia boss does not have interest or power to protect me anymore after I broke the law for him". And they are saying it very very literally: > the man who had a direct line to Trump, who they believed could pick up the phone and secure a presidential pardon if the worst came. This is not about "narrative changing". This is them working for crime boss, knowingly and now finding out crime boss does not care anymore.
- mindslight 11mo ago
  I was making that point in the context of the Trump Cinematic Universe, which includes both these committed true-believers as well as the clueless cheerleaders still simping along at home. The narrative there is/was that since Trump won the election, anything he decrees has a mandate from "the people" (cue Bane voice). So when the useful idiots were acting, they saw the law as irrelevant - everything they were doing was for the cause and thus they'd be protected (naive). But obviously Trump's directly-harmful America-last policies are eventually going to be felt by a lot of the grassroots cheerleaders who think he's some kind of savior. At which point to try and maintain their support, it's going to become politically important to write off the harmful results by attributing them to some scapegoats. And the clear scapegoats for many things are Musk and his merry band of governmental arsonists.

watwut 11mo ago

> the narrative will morph into something like these were cowboys doing unauthorized things at Musk's behest They just knowingly broke the law. They are not saying "omg, I thought I am doing fully legal thing". They are saying "omg, the mafia boss does not have interest or power to protect me anymore after I broke the law for him". And they are saying it very very literally: > the man who had a direct line to Trump, who they believed could pick up the phone and secure a presidential pardon if the worst came. This is not about "narrative changing". This is them working for crime boss, knowingly and now finding out crime boss does not care anymore.

mindslight 11mo ago
I was making that point in the context of the Trump Cinematic Universe, which includes both these committed true-believers as well as the clueless cheerleaders still simping along at home. The narrative there is/was that since Trump won the election, anything he decrees has a mandate from "the people" (cue Bane voice). So when the useful idiots were acting, they saw the law as irrelevant - everything they were doing was for the cause and thus they'd be protected (naive). But obviously Trump's directly-harmful America-last policies are eventually going to be felt by a lot of the grassroots cheerleaders who think he's some kind of savior. At which point to try and maintain their support, it's going to become politically important to write off the harmful results by attributing them to some scapegoats. And the clear scapegoats for many things are Musk and his merry band of governmental arsonists.