Term at DOGE did serious damage to his brands, only achieved a fraction of hoped-for savings.
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Elon Musk counts the cost of his four-month blitz through US government
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Does the cost include this:
Fuck Musk.
Edit: Link https://bsky.app/profile/victorerikray.bsky.social/post/3lqevb44afs2g
but may only work if you're logged in.
Fuck Musk.
Edit: Link https://bsky.app/profile/victorerikray.bsky.social/post/3lqevb44afs2g
but may only work if you're logged in.
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The purpose was never to achieve savings, that is just the lie they put out over their existence. Their purpose was to destroy the administrative and regulatory state and so far, they seemed to have achieved that nicely. They've destroyed everything from the FDA, to NIOSH to the CFPB. All of which will result in more death, more destruction, more poisoning, more spread of diseases, etc.
That was their goal. And they did it.
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He bought himself maybe four years of no oversight and government money, but you cannot do what he did and not expect the chickens to come home to roost.
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The most damning statement of all. Musk will always be phenomenally rich; one can only hope he looks back on his life with a sense of failure and regret. He deserves nothing less.
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NYT…
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/us/elon-musk-drugs-children-trump.html
Ever notice how hypocritical MAGA is?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/us/elon-musk-drugs-children-trump.html
Ever notice how hypocritical MAGA is?
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Is it too much to ask he die like Thomas Midgely or Stockton Rush: in something he invented?
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Don't worry - Full Self Reduction will happen before the end of the year. For some unspecified year.
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DOGE didn't save any money. Fed costs went UP 11% so far this fiscal year. And with the thousands of lawsuits still pending, the costs will likely go up far, far more.
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I vote for a rogue brain implant that replaces every attempted utterance of the letter 'X' with the word 'Twitter'.
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I came to post this too. Here's a sharelink that should work for anyone:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/...e_code=1.LE8.5Es8.NuO9moH2I76_&smid=url-share
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Well, the government is less efficient, millions of dollars were wasted, and a sociopathic social media CEO was given unfettered access to sensitive government databases and was allowed to benefit his businesses from his position. Did I miss anything?
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His spending from Jan 20, 2025 is above the rate Biden’s was from Jan 20 in any year of his term.
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Trump considers everyone who doesn't immediately cater to his narcissism to be a thorn in his side.
Trump lashes out at Leonard Leo, legal activist who helped him pick Supreme Court justices: "Probably hates America"
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Thank you. The line:
"Bill Gates even accused Musk of “killing the world’s poorest children” through his actions at Doge."
Is flat incorrect. The word "accused" needs to be "observed" or "noted", it was so much more than an accusation.
But... I didn't even have to find a reference! I appreciate your effort!
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In fairness, given Trump's SC picks, it's probably not wrong to say that Leo hates America.
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Correct. And a number of departments were on track to spend their entire annual budget in less than six months.
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He's publicly stated that his second term will be one of revenge and retribution. I'm gonna go with unashamedly malevolent.
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It feels like a big journalistic miss to not mention the whistleblower complaint sent to the Senate Intelligence Committee and witness intimidation after alleging DOGE seemingly gave remote access admin credentials to Russian state actors, downloaded copies of sensitive data, and made intentional efforts to delete records of what they did.
Within minutes of setting up remote access credentials, Russian IP addresses tried logging in with the exact usernames and passwords.
The whistleblower complaint alleges (with evidence) that DOGE:
1. set up remote access to many sensitive systems that were previously not exposed to the open internet
2. intentionally hid their actions by turning off logs and deleting history
3. downloaded significant volumes of sensitive data and gave no public accounting of what was done with it
Every citizen should be questioning which data has been copied, who it's been shared with, and which systems are still vulnerable to remote access.
Source for whistleblower complaint alleging Russian attempt at remote access and witness intimidation: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3...gencys-systems-via-doge-created-accounts.html
Further technical details on DOGE staffer involved (who has shared racist and eugentic views online):
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/04/doge-workers-code-supports-nlrb-whistleblower/
My tinfoil hat theory: DOGE could have been used as public cover to set up covert persistent access in sensitive government systems. If so, it would have provided unrivaled intelligence gathering capabilities and training data for Elon's AI ambitions. I have low confidence in this theory, but it seems plausible given the current documented evidence and allegations.
Update: NYT is reporting today that Elon's friend Alex Karp has won contracts to set up persistent access and monitoring in at least four departments via Palantir's Foundry product. This will give users access to merged multi-agency datasets including health, financial, and immigration records of many US citizens. (Of note, DOGE was staffed with many former Palantir employees/interns.)
Within minutes of setting up remote access credentials, Russian IP addresses tried logging in with the exact usernames and passwords.
The whistleblower complaint alleges (with evidence) that DOGE:
1. set up remote access to many sensitive systems that were previously not exposed to the open internet
2. intentionally hid their actions by turning off logs and deleting history
3. downloaded significant volumes of sensitive data and gave no public accounting of what was done with it
Every citizen should be questioning which data has been copied, who it's been shared with, and which systems are still vulnerable to remote access.
Source for whistleblower complaint alleging Russian attempt at remote access and witness intimidation: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3...gencys-systems-via-doge-created-accounts.html
Further technical details on DOGE staffer involved (who has shared racist and eugentic views online):
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/04/doge-workers-code-supports-nlrb-whistleblower/
My tinfoil hat theory: DOGE could have been used as public cover to set up covert persistent access in sensitive government systems. If so, it would have provided unrivaled intelligence gathering capabilities and training data for Elon's AI ambitions. I have low confidence in this theory, but it seems plausible given the current documented evidence and allegations.
Update: NYT is reporting today that Elon's friend Alex Karp has won contracts to set up persistent access and monitoring in at least four departments via Palantir's Foundry product. This will give users access to merged multi-agency datasets including health, financial, and immigration records of many US citizens. (Of note, DOGE was staffed with many former Palantir employees/interns.)
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No, and people downvoting you are pathetic. Enough of this "wishing violence on anyone for anyone reason is some mortal horrible sin!"
We wouldn't have to wish death on him if he and his billionaire friends didn't intentionally damage and stack the courts making it impossible to hold them accountable through any normal means.
The only way Elon or any other of the mega rich will be brought to justice is by vigilante.
It was THEIR CHOICES that led to this. Brian Thompson spent many years of his life actively supporting a party that wants to overthrow democracy. He spent his life intentionally hurting others for his own profit. He killed by the hundreds of thousands. He was a serial killer. Him getting two bullets in the spine was justice because ALL OTHER AVENUES WERE CLOSED OFF.
History will NOT see this with the moral "ambiguity" that our nullified, weak sensibilities see it as now.
No one has a problem with the idea of going back in time and killing Hitler. Only "what if there were unintended consequences?" there's absolutely no care for his life. Many people are even fine with the idea of smashing the head of baby Hitler.
Do we really think history will see Musk any differently? He is a serial killer. Do not pretend his life has value or is worth defending.
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Even beyond the big headlines, DOGE is hardly efficiency-focused.
Lavingia's (quoted in the article) greatest accomplishment with DOGE was setting up an email filter to catch people using personal pronouns in their signatures.
My buddy who works in federal government has observed DOGE staff sneaking through offices to write up employees who leave their badges in their computers when stepping out to use the bathroom.
They're sending out disciplinary actions to those who didn't submit their weekly five bullet points on Monday, a federal holiday. (Yes, that BS is still mandatory at most agencies.)
Lavingia's (quoted in the article) greatest accomplishment with DOGE was setting up an email filter to catch people using personal pronouns in their signatures.
My buddy who works in federal government has observed DOGE staff sneaking through offices to write up employees who leave their badges in their computers when stepping out to use the bathroom.
They're sending out disciplinary actions to those who didn't submit their weekly five bullet points on Monday, a federal holiday. (Yes, that BS is still mandatory at most agencies.)
Musk's going to have another term?!
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That would be where treason fits right in. Hear the penalty is pretty harsh.
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Before long Trump is going to be saying he "barely knew" Elon Musk, didn't know anything about DOGE, didn't look at what was cut, and didn't participate in any of the decision-making or planning of the strategy (if you want to call it that) around the execution of things. That's his way; that's how he's always handled things when it was time for someone to take accountability for something.
If after forking over almost $300 million to buy last year's election you're surprised by how any of this played out, a little self reflection would surely be in order.
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Ars is frequented by many collaborators. They might not actively put on a uniform and do violence to you, but they'll fight anyone thinking of fighting back. Decorum above all else. Stay Neutral until the very end.
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Musk did want to achieve savings. He's the type of person who would think, "Running the US government efficiently isn't rocket science, and I'm smarter than a rocket scientist," and severely underestimate the complexity and necessity of bureaucratic rules.
If destruction was the main goal, he wouldn't have been surprised that the destruction made him hugely unpopular.
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Also, they installed backdoors in all the agencies' computer systems, and are using data that was SUPPOSED to be silod to protect everyone's Constitutional 4th Amendment rights (e.g. if you have to give info to the IRS, or Social Security, that shouldn't be being used by ICE or ATF) in ways Congress never authorized it to be used, and also, very likely, Elon and some of his buddies are using it for their own private purposes as well.
Also, they've granted themselves godlike powers to reach into bank accounts and take money out of them or freeze them, and who knows what else? And mark my words, if they can just take the money from the city and state of new york, with no court rulings, no jury verdicts, just because they decided to, they can take money from anyone, with no due process.
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