Aaaaaaand, he’s gone! Elon Musk has left the Trump Administration and is no longer heading up the DOGE (doggy) branch of government. Apparently, after identifying a few billion dollars of waste that could be cut from the federal budget, Musk decided it was easier to call it quits than to continue butting heads with The Beast which is Washington, D.C.
What a dog! Mangy, flea-bitten cur is more like it. [Editor’s note, just to clarify: This does not refer to Musk in person but to the program he headed, as if government efficiency could ever be achieved, even by the most ardent and capable practitioners. Efficient government ought to scare everyone. See the quote below by King George the First.]
Whatever happened to the $2 trillion goal in cuts which was bandied about? Gone, gone, gone. Ain’t gonna happen. Never had a chance. This lofty, unrealistic reach was in the same ballpark as Trump’s claim that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day after he became President. How much do you hear about that now?
The problem, as I see it, is that Musk, Trump, and others of that ilk are businessmen. They make deals. They shake hands. They exchange money for services. All done in a, more or less, voluntary fashion by mutual agreement. More or less, with a good, healthy dollop of “help” from the taxpayer. But what they do not understand is that government does not operate according to business principles. Government is not a business and it cannot be run like a business. Or, as George Washington so aptly put it centuries ago,
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
Now, Musk might be reasonable but I don’t think he is eloquent. He is certainly sharp about the workings of money. Trump doesn’t even make any pretense about being reasonable but also understands money. And he talks a lot. Of course, verbosity of speech doesn’t necessarily equate to eloquence, but that’s a small thing. The point is that, in trying to impose their business tactics and ideals on the government, both have failed. Failed to the point that Congress just simply shrugs its collective shoulder and says, “So?”, then pushes through a “Big, Beautiful Bill” which hands over $1 trillion to an already obese Military-Industrial Complex (MIC). Thankfully, this still has to be passed by the Senate before Trump can sign off on it, so there is still a remote possibility that it might not be brought to life. Miracles do happen.
Government is force. There is no reforming it to make it more reasonable, palatable, nor consumer-friendly. Businesses and consumers buy and sell voluntarily, making transactions on a daily basis because they are willing to give up what they have in favor of what someone else offers. Government doesn’t care about any of this, rather, if it wants what someone else has, it simply takes it. Or tries to, and only grows larger and more aggressive with the passage of time. Over time, as more and more people buy into the concept of “organized theft and redistribution”, the system becomes corrupt from the top to the bottom and eventually collapses and disappears, making way for something different to build out of the rubble.
Musk is out, presumably hitching a ride to Mars on your tax dollars. Trump is a wrecking ball destroying what has been built up over the last hundred years or so. Neither of them give a damn about us. Which brings me to another point–where are Montana’s Congress critters on this matter, this question about spending the country into glorious, indisputable, beautiful bankruptcy and destruction? Daines? Sheehy? Zinke? Downing? Not a word. Not a peep. Nothing but silence, or have they too joined the chorus?
“So?”
It wouldn’t be surprising if they did. After all, who can think of a better way to personally benefit than to ride this broken-down bronc until it buries its nose into the arena floor?
Poor Roger's Almanac 
Elon didn’t just up and quit on a whim. He was actually only assigned a temporary position from the beginning, something like a “special government employee,” which had a very specific and short duration. It was planned that at the end of that duration, he would leave as he would no longer be hired by the government, and go back to running his many businesses. His role was to get DOGE up and running to where it could function on its own, not stay there the entire time. Now, the DOGE team will continue its work just as it has been doing. That said, it is truly a shame they never got to finding $2 trillion in fraud. Elon was way off on that. But what they have uncovered is still pretty substantial nonetheless. Much fraud, waste, and abuse has been uncovered and stopped. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss that. Every little bit helps. It also wakes up more and more people who for whatever reason didn’t care or realize the degree and extent of government abuse and now are angry given that the curtain has been pulled back, if even a little bit. That’s not nothing. That’s how revolutions start.
On the matter of Trump not caring about us, I greatly disagree. Anyone who says that hasn’t been following Trump at all and just flat out doesn’t know him. I’ve been following him so closely since 2015 that I feel I know his heart and his character. Maybe that doesn’t carry a ton of weight, as in all fairness, I’ve never met him. However, in addition to that, I’ve paid a great deal of attention to countless people who have spent time with Trump and given their testimonies about what he is like in person, including behind the scenes, so to speak, and they seem to always walk away with the same conclusion, that he genuinely cares about us and this country and is actually fighting to save it. Therefore, I am led to believe my assessment of him over the last decade is correct. Yes, he has a propensity to spend, as all presidents do, although we really do need the strongest and most lethal military possible. And he didn’t end the Russia/Ukraine war as he said he would and probably could if he chose to. I am not saying he’s perfect. Not at all. But neither am I, and neither are you. I can’t even begin to count the number and enormity of the mistakes I’ve made. Can we be flawed and still truly care about others and our country? I think we can. And so therefore can Trump.
Hi, Steve. Welcome back. Thank you for commenting.
“I am not saying he’s perfect. Not at all. But neither am I, and neither are you. I can’t even begin to count the number and enormity of the mistakes I’ve made. Can we be flawed and still truly care about others and our country? I think we can. And so therefore can Trump.”
Excellent comment and ending. Absolutely true. I completely agree, especially about the mistakes I have personally made, which are legion. The entire world would benefit greatly if everyone would face their own mistakes and repent of their sins.
Yet, you preface this with a comment, “And he didn’t end the Russia/Ukraine war as he said he would and probably could if he chose to.” Coupled with your assertion that Trump REALLY does care about us, the average, small, inconsequential citizen, I am at a loss as to your logic. Trump said he would end the war in one day. Fact. You say he probably could. Belief. But the most important phrase is the last four words–“…if he chose to.” He would, he could, yet he didn’t. Why? If he could end it as he promised he would, then what reason can you give as to why he chose not to? Because he cares about us? Because he cares about the average, small, inconsequential Ukrainian? Is this why he doesn’t end the Israeli assault on the Palestinians in Gaza, which he could do immediately…IF HE CHOSE TO, yet he doesn’t. Why? Is there something here you’re not seeing?
IMO. if someone says he will do something and is capable of doing it, but doesn’t fulfill that promise by his own choice, then he is a liar and cannot be trusted on anything.
“…He takes an oath to his own detriment, and does not change…” — Psalm 4b (commentary on a godly man, which exposes Trump for what he is)
“By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” — Matthew 7:16, Amplified Version
Contrived doctrine and self-focus. A better description of the man could not exist.
[…] Perhaps I was too hard on Elon Musk. Perhaps. Time will tell. But, he’s a big boy and can handle a little bit of honest opinion, truthful or not. […]