I'm not even sure if it's that deliberate, or it's just the fact that Trump is thinking about rigging the election... so he talks about rigging the election.

But it's hilarious how consistent the pattern is. Normally with something like that there's just a few occasional examples. But with Trump if he says "Democrats are kicking puppies!" chances are that we're about to find out that Trump kicked a puppy.

ISTM that the perps are most often social conservatives, such as leaders of regressive religions.

If that's the case, I shudder to think what it was like in the Middle Ages. Or in certain countries today.

"No money exchanged hands in the making of this contract."

Fleeing with hoarded money isn't likely to hurt the state.

IIRC, moderately high wages are taxed at a higher rate than capital gains.

Actually, we need to roll back decades of tax cuts so we can afford our civilization.

Can you support that claim?

Also, more productive for whom?

And if they did, the Party of Personal Responsibility would just blame it on Biden.

Define crypto as share trading, and tax it accordingly.

He's not a genius, I sincerely think he's average to slightly below average intelligence for a software dev. Just look how clueless he really is when he pretends to be a technical guru in front of actual experts.

That doesn't mean he doesn't have some exceptional skills, but IQ isn't one of them.

First, he's hard working, at least in spurts (during critical deadlines), and he's willing to make and implement big decisions quickly. Just look at DOGE, Republicans have been trying to lay waste to the US government for decades, but Musk is the only one to actually do it. It was a complete disaster, but it wasn't ethics or common sense that stopped the previous attempts, that's a legit talent for Musk.

Second, CEOs aren't allowed to lie, but Musk has figured out that you can get around that by building a cult of personality and then making ridiculously optimistic predictions and then sell minor advancements as progress. The result is he has a core group of retail investors that buy his stocks based on vibes and refuse to sell once in. Since these retail investors prevent the stock from going down too much institutional investors also jump in on the ride. It's basically tulip bulbs.

They'd run it again today anyway.

you miss out on the true meaning of Christmas.

News would be if he did something that *wasn't* fraudulent.

At least he ended another war on his birthday. People will be lining up to give him peace prizes.

Has an agreement actually been reached? Both sides agree on the terms?

How much was given away to get it?

How will Trump and his stooges spin it?

How long will it last?

I hope you'll forgive me for being skeptical, give what has happened up 'til now.