[Maru]

I kind of wish he does something that causes him to go away quietly, but it's so very unlikely. I don't have to mind that he does his role well if he can manage something quietly and professionally… but I just don't care for all the other bullcrap that comes with him.

I've always thought he was a bit of a knob and a ticking time bomb which seemed evident with his clear narcissistic penchant, well before his entry into the world of politics. It does seem he craves a captive audience and I think he is finally getting a taste of that very important something that he's now clearly relishing and that is something he is clinging to, a bit like an overgrown child. In time that's not going to pan out as he'd hoped because these things always turn. I can't see that ending well.

Side tangent: I can see similar trends happening for some of the other egocentrist characters surrounding Trump. They're unelected so they can't expect the public to be as forgiving of any personal misfortunes. Similar to Harry & Meghan, the people didn't continue to fawn over them the same way after they moved on from the monarchy. They weren't part of true public life until that point (though amusingly, that's probably what they were led to believe in the background). Now they are and are subject to real world expectations. And that's part of it. Trump's actual pressure is going to be from the public (per his office) and I think he knows this. It's not the minor personalities surrounding him that got him to power, in reality. Real expectations will have to return and eventually the reality will set in that being a keyboard maverick on the internet is not an actual skillset. So I think at least some of the right-leaning folk who rode their wave to fame off Trumpism are in for a very rude awakening if they don't figure this out soon.. Americans are tired of politicians who do nothing... similarly, they're just beginning to fatigue on "celebritism" that continues to run its mouth but has nothing to show for it... this ire isn't just confined to Hollywood ilk...

Back to Elon, I don't use X that much but I'd seen just how much he posts and I can't comprehend how he's very busy at all doing whatever "business" he does in his real life. So that to me suggests there's not so much there as is often being portrayed. He talks so much **** also and eventually that's not going to add back up, either.

To say he seems too wrapped up on what goes on with the site is saying the very least and to that effect I think also what X says shouldn't be influencing our politics to such a grandiose extent either. Many other people are going to agree with that, I think. So I can't say it keeps up the image forever that it has this influence over our social discourse that it portrays, but perhaps he wants to build up the site with that veneer and eventually that is also going to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths who either use the site casually for basic news or people who are just annoyed with his tweets being shoved in their faces through other sources. It was bad enough when it was just Trump tweets and all the energy that surrounded that. But for better or worse, he was our highest elected official and what he does say matters. Still, I think for the average person, they don't have to dislike either of them to not find their online versions very dislikeable.

As for any personal gain… I think TiBB, like many places on the internet, tend to put too much weight into the average influence of a **** poster on the internet. That said, Elon may do a decent enough something to make a dent in the way the country moves forward but I certainly think he manages this based on personal expectations (financially and emotionally) and there's certainly a major conflict of interest.

I generally agree his involvement is likely to be more problematic than Trump for that reason because it may create a trend where very rich people start believing they can buy their way into public office. (Zuckerberg...) I expect any contribution he makes to be a very mixed bag if it even happens. Based on his posting habits, I suspect he needs constant turdwrangling to get anything done in his actual life.


Those are just some of my thoughts… TLDR: I don't like or dislike him. But I think he's a walking trainwreck… and yes, he's absolutely got his own thing going on and taking advantage of every opportunity laid out in front of him... arguably, it's how people in his position do what they do... other billionaires have done the same (The Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of the world...), each have intimidated and pushed their way around to get their way... only time will tell, though.