Is Elon Musk OK?

Just a few months ago, the prancing right-winger was constantly in the news. Today, though – poof! – he has vanished from media coverage. But fret not -- Elon always finds money to take care of Number One. Indeed, this month he was handed a $30 billion pay raise by his car company. Yes, BILLION.

Odd, since his stewardship of Tesla in the past couple of years has been disastrous. Sales, profit, quality, and market share are in the ditch, along with his own reputation. Yet, in a gushing letter to shareholders, the corporation’s board of directors asserted that its $30 billion handout was a “critical” gesture to induce Elon to show up for work. Apparently, $29 billion would not have been enough.

Who are these board members who supposedly “govern” the corporation and its CEO? One is Kimbal Musk. Yes, Elon’s brother! Others are close pals and lackeys, each of whom is extravagantly paid. For example, the board member who “negotiated” that ridiculous giveaway to His Supremeness has pocketed more than half a billion dollars in profits from Tesla stock options she has been granted.

Well, declare apologists for Musk and his captive board, if $30 billion was excessive, the shareholders who technically own Tesla could’ve sued to stop payment. Uh… no, they couldn’t. Last year, Musk moved Tesla’s official residence to Texas, where the corrupt governor dutifully passed a law dictating that only shareholders owning at least three percent of the stock can sue on matters of corporate governance. Basically, that eliminates all shareholders except: Musk.

And that’s how the corporate merry-go-round is rigged to keep spinning around and around and around.

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A gaggle of self-righteous multimillionaires are now in charge of America’s poverty agencies and policies, and they’ve been flaunting their deeply-held ignorance about poor families – almost none of whom they actually know.

Consider the national embarrassment of Brooke Rollins, a patrician ideologue, who is Trump’s plutocratic Secretary of Agriculture. Besides promoting a corporatized food and farm system, Rollins is advocating a program of back-to-the-future peonage for poor people. “We have way too many people that are taking government program that are able to work,” she snorts.

Bad grammar aside, she falsely asserts that “34 million able-bodied adults” are freeloading on public health care. They’re taking Medicaid benefits that they ought to have to “earn” by hard labor, she recently decreed. Her Dickensian solution: Put the moochers to work in the fields!

Noting that Trump’s militarized assault on immigrants has terrorized agricultural workers, thus creating a farm labor crisis, Rollins wants to hitch America’s poor families to the plow. Voilà – labor shortage solved, and the poor are forced to earn their medical care. What a brilliant leader!

Except for her rank ignorance. First, 64 percent of Medicaid recipients are already working and nearly all of the rest are retirees, unable to work, or struggling to find jobs. Second, she’s obviously unaware that agriculture is skilled work – you can’t just bus city and suburban people out to the country and say “grow stuff.”

And third, it is beyond arrogant for a rich government autocrat – who takes $220,000 a year from taxpayers, plus platinum healthcare benefits and a fat pension – to be pontificating about forcing “undeserving” poor into hot fields to produce a nice leafy salad for her lunch.

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Will Rogers joked that when thousands of rural Oklahomans fled the 1930s Dust Bowl and migrated to California: “It raised the intellectual level of both states.”

Following that line of thought, it occurred to me that America could benefit mightily if the Democratic Party’s overbearing corporate contingent were to migrate to their natural domain, the Republican Party. Seriously, as Robert Reich recently wrote: “Who in the world needs corporate Democrats?”

Thomas Jefferson warned of the democracy-crushing threat of America’s emerging “moneyed corporations.” And, sure enough, here they are today – literally owning the White House, Congress, Judiciary, most state governments… and suppressing democracy itself.

They’re entrenched not because they’re championed by the Republican Party, but because the once-proud party of America’s broad working class has also yoked itself to corporate money and embraced Republican policies of corporate supremacy. Where does that leave the great majority of working stiffs on election day? Staying home, feeling abandoned as both parties cater to the moneyed elite.

While many corporate Democrats insist they’re “social progressives,” it would be a profound public service for them to carry those social values directly into Republican primaries, softening that party’s raw minginess a bit. At the same time, their departure would free the Democratic Party from being financially shackled to the corporate agenda, letting it return to its roots as the unequivocating champion of working-class, little-d democrats.

By clarifying the core policy differences of both parties, elections could matter to most people again, presenting honest choices between a democratic or a plutocratic future. Pie-in-the-sky? Maybe, or even probably. But baking a pie starts by turning on the heat.

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Frenetic crowds are storming the White House like a Black Friday mob at Walmart!

Only these are not shoppers scrambling for family needs – these are CEOs, lobbyists, and billionaires out to “get theirs” in the huge Trump-a-Thon sell-off of Presidential favors. Common folks need not apply, since MAGA, Inc. (Trump’s political fundraising sack) charges a million bucks or more just to buy access to his golden throne.

Once there, everything is for sale. One cryptocurrency huckster, for example, delivered his million to get into a candlelight dinner at Mar-a-Lago, where he pitched a business deal to Trump himself. Then, for an extra $200,000, the crypto-guy was allowed to “sponsor” the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. Yes – they’ve even financialized and corporatized an apolitical, publicly-funded event for children!

Not only is Trump being bought by Big Money, but he’s also available for short-term lease. For example, rich businesswoman Elizabeth Fago leased him in April for some heavy lifting on a household chore. Her son Paul had been found guilty last year of tax crimes and was headed to prison. But a million dollar check to MAGA Inc. put her in direct touch with Mister Fix-It. Sure enough, once her check was cashed, the fortunate son was granted “a full and unconditional” presidential pardon – no jail time, no payment of restitution to his victims.

When the New York Times asked about such corrupt selling of official favors, MAGA Inc. declared that Trump treats every American the same. So, there you have Trump’s million-dollar definition of “American.” If you’ve got the million, you’re in the club. If you don’t, you’re not.

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Has your family visited any of America’s phenomenal national parks or historical sites this summer? What treasures they are!

Also, visits to these jewels are enriched by the deeply-knowledgeable Park Service staff. And, of course, there’s the extra-special bonus that the Trump regime has added to our public parks this year: Political censorship.

With Trump issuing his dizzying blizzard of right-wing executive orders, you might’ve missed the one in March commanding the Park Service to scrutinize all of its public exhibits, signs, websites, videos, and other materials. Why? To flag and delete any scrap of information that Trump’s right-wing cultural cops consider to be “negative” historical content about America.

Sure enough, the Interior Department’s political overseers promptly compelled staffs at the Park Service’s 433 locations to go on a witch hunt for ideological impurity. In particular, any suggestion that racism, oppression, autocracy, and violence have been common features of the American experience have been decreed verboten. And, to assure a thorough cleansing of history, MAGA posses have been invited to go to historic sites and tag items they don’t like. Trump operatives say that by mid-September, they will have removed, deleted, or – get this – physically covered-up the inconvenient truths of our people’s history.

They’re like one-year-olds who think if they cover their eyes, we can’t see them. Well, peek-a-boo! A rebellious coalition called “Save Our Signs,” is asking grassroots people to take photos and videos of Park Service exhibits before they’re hidden away. Then, SOS will display samples of the banned material online so We the People can see the inanity of Trump’s 1984ish Newspeak censorship. Link to SOS at jimhightower.com/SaveOurSigns.

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In 2018 my newspaper died. Well, actually, the emaciated carcass of the Austin American Statesman still had a feeble pulse. But its journalistic voice and soul were gone, stripped out by the notorious financial predators of Gannett, the huge media conglomerate that had recently bought the paper.

Happily, though, the Statesman has made a near-miraculous recovery, thanks to a small-but-feisty band of actual journalists who believe in local newspapers. They fought Gannett bosses tenaciously, gaining a voice by forming a union, striking, and finally compelling the giant to sign a union contract. Victory!

Uh… not yet. Just months later, Gannett sold the newspaper to Hearst, another massive media conglomerate. This new relationship started well, but soon turned sour when Hearst honchos abruptly refused to honor the paper’s contract with the union. Then they began firing employees and jacking around with the newsroom’s healthcare and retirement benefits. Adding pettiness to greed, Hearst honchos even refused to let Statesman journalists take a holiday that corporate managers get. What the hell?

Bear in mind that Hearst is a phenomenally profitable, $13-billion-a-year, multi-media behemoth. It’s CEO, Steven Swartz, pockets millions of dollars a year and lives in luxury. Also, Austin is a booming media market worth gazillions to Hearst! No need to be so pathetically mingy!

So, the hardy members of the Austin News Guild are back doing what working people have to do – organizing and mobilizing for a little more justice. “We’re no strangers to the petty tactics of corporate elites,” they say, so the guild is relaunching its grassroots campaign to battle the b******s, fight for fairness, and protect local news. To track progress, go to: AustinNewsGuild.org.

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If you want to learn how to play the game, boys and girls, forget all that old-fashioned stuff like “do your best,” “be a good sport,” and “respect the game.”

No, no, that’s loser talk. Today, the name of the game is winning. You’re Number One, or you’re nothing, so forget fair play and do whatever it takes to WIN! Of course, the gold medal champion of gaming the system is Trump, and to see the master in action, look at his current electoral manipulation in Texas.

With only a slim majority in the US House, and with his job-approval rating plummeting, Trump recently realized he’s in danger of losing his iron grip on Congress in next year’s mid-term elections. Gosh, what to do? Simple – rig the election! And no place is better at that than Texas.

So, Lord Donald ordered Greg Abbott, the right-wing partisan hack who is governor of this once-proud Lone Star State, to convene a special legislative session to redraw our congressional districts. Never mind that the districts had already been gerrymandered by Abbott only four years ago, Trump is demanding that voters be herded like cattle into even more convoluted districts. The goal is to oust five Texas Democrats from the House, thus stacking the Congressional deck with more Republicans so he can keep ruling the place. It’s political game-playing at its worst, disrespecting voters and the very idea of a House of Representatives.

Of course, there is an honorable way for the GOP to elect more of its own without engaging in political perversion: Stop trying to push far-right-wing nonsense that the great majority of voters don’t want. Instead, put up decent candidates who don’t need a Trump script to know what they stand for… and don’t need a Trump map to find the district that they supposedly “represent.”

Do something!

To stay on top of all-things-progressive in Texas, we can’t recommend Michelle H. Davis’ Substack enough: Lone Star Left. Here are a couple of her recent posts:

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Some outrages are so outrageous that I don’t even want to talk about them. But that’s when we must speak out.

Indeed, let’s rage against our government’s wholly-unprincipled embrace of (and direct participation in) the Israeli government’s ongoing massacre of the Palestinian people.

* Israel’s ruthless, 2-year invasion of Gaza has already killed 59,000 Palestinian civilians – more than half of them women and children.

* That’s as many killings as our soldiers suffered during the entire Vietnam War.

* Israel’s military has forced nearly all of Gaza’s two million citizens to abandon their homes and towns, herding them into distant camps, many without food, water, toilets, etc.

* Excruciating death by starvation – especially among children – is now at epidemic levels in Gaza, creating a dystopian horror.

* When masses of desperate Palestinians rush to sporadic and inadequate deliveries of humanitarian aid, Israeli snipers and other forces have opened fire on them – just since May, more than a thousand unarmed Palestinians have been assassinated in such ambushes.

Yes, fiendish Hamas terrorists, who literally operate underground in Gaza, are guilty of sadistic brutality against Israelis. But moral retribution requires going after Hamas, not mounting an inhumane onslaught to wipe the Palestinian people off the Earth.

A majority of Israelis are now openly rebelling against their government’s barbaric abandonment of their people’s best values. But what about us? Those sniper bullets and rockets have your and my names on them; those wasted children who’re dying in the agony of starvation belong to us; and it’s our politicians who’re propping up Israel’s corrupt prime minister and war machine. To stop this perversion of our own humanitarian values, go to International Rescue Committee: rescue.org.

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To paraphrase British historian Lord Acton: “[Money] tends to corrupt, and absolute [money] corrupts absolutely.”

During my time as a Texas elected official, I happened to witness an almost vaudevillian performance of Lord Acton’s axiom on the floor of our state senate. A multimillionaire named Bo Pilgrim, baron of a factory chicken empire called Pilgrim’s Pride, had come to the Capitol to speak against a bill requiring corporations like his to provide decent workers’ compensation benefits. Bo didn’t speak in words, however – he simply walked onto the senate floor and brazenly handed out $10,000 checks to compliant senators.

Today, corporate political money doesn’t just talk, it screams – drowning out the voices of all who oppose the special favors the corrupt “donors” buy. And these days, a $10,000 check is considered almost charming in its innocence.

Take Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a far-right-wing demagogic politico who prides himself on demonizing and directly harming poor and powerless people, while scooping up fantastic donations from the financial powers he serves. This year, after railroading a slew of corporate gimmies into law, Abbott cashed in. Last month alone, he pocketed four million-dollar checks – one each from a real estate titan, a ruthless pipeline autocrat, a Trump backing money manager, and one of Elon Musk’s corporate operatives.

Excuse me for speaking out, but this is a gross example of kakistocracy – government by and for the very worst people in society. If they didn’t shower him with cash, even Greg Abbott wouldn’t speak to them. It’s time to start calling this what the dictionary plainly says it is: Bribery.

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🚨🚨🚨 From the Lowdown’s “Early Political Warning System” comes this Code Red alert… 🚨🚨🚨 a fast-moving front of corporate corruption is sweeping westward from the White House… 🚨🚨🚨… Residents are urged to seek higher ethical ground immediately… 🚨🚨🚨

This is not a test, but a warning of an unnatural disaster: A plutocratic cabal of corporate elites is aiming to gut and eventually eliminate America’s National Weather Service! Yes, that’s the extensive network of scientific analysts, monitoring systems, researchers, emergency responders, and others trying to anticipate, prepare for, and protect us from the worst of storms, floods, wildfires, and other calamities.

In the name of “efficiency,” Republican politicos are now defunding and cancelling essential storm warning centers, hurricane monitoring staffs, flood rescue teams – and they’re even closing some forecast offices at night (as though bad weather checks out at sunset). Why?

Greed. Wall Street profiteers – including Trump appointees and political funders – have long lusted to privatize the weather service. While no one can control the weather, it is possible to control, commodify, and monopolize the collection, interpretation, and distribution of forecasting data. So, Trump Inc. intends to stop providing these functions as a public service for the benefit of all. Instead, weather data would become a corporate profit center, packaged and sold at premium prices to media conglomerates, insurance giants, private resorts, and others who can afford it.

These privatizing profiteers are shameful. They’re deliberately demonizing, destaffing, and dismantling a public servicethat is essential to America’s common good – just so they can steal it for their own profit. To rebel against their destructive greed, check out Union of Concerned Scientists: UCS.org

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