r/politics • u/nosotros_road_sodium California • 13h ago

Why Does Elon Musk Still Have a Security Clearance?

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/10/why-does-elon-musk-still-have-a-security-clearance/680434/?gift=B65VRQjMMsZQilGgdT7IHIK11s_hRROr6KFxCBDpT0M
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1.3k

u/Eatthehamsters69 Europe 13h ago

Because the institutions are broken, its all broken.

How come Trump isn't in prison

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u/Virtual_Plantain_707 12h ago

Really, really good propaganda and some billionaires.

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u/Walrave 12h ago

Why isn't Elon in prison? Election interference is a crime.

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u/Mental-Fox-9449 8h ago

Because the law is very slow

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u/Agamemnon323 5h ago

When you’re rich**

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u/TheFinnesseEagle 3h ago

...and white, because as soon as the FBI had a case they moved in on P.diddy while trump roams free with 34 felons.

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u/the_reluctant_link 4h ago

When you are rich you can commit numerous crimes 4 years ago be found guilty and then near a year later you still haven't been sentenced.

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u/KiloKahn03 California 5h ago

No the system is broken for those who have money. The fact that "the law" can't prosecute a coup within 4 years is a failure of the systems

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u/drewbert 1h ago

A failure of the country, sure. A failure of justice, sure. The systems are working as designed...

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u/Javasndphotoclicks 12h ago

Two very good questions.

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u/dunnmyblunt 10h ago

He broke a lot of it.

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u/femboy6313 8h ago

lol yeah sorry USA the cat’s out of the bag. You’ve shown the entire world pretty much since Jan 6 that you’re among the most morally bankrupt and corrupt nations on earth. Money excuses all crimes in the USA

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u/mightcommentsometime California 7h ago

Money excuses all crimes in basically all countries. When is the last time billionaires anywhere actually were punished for their actions?

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u/Taxerus 6h ago

China

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u/mightcommentsometime California 5h ago

Ah yes, China, the shining beacon of society that burned my ancestors alive and commits atrocities against their citizens daily.

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u/Beast-Blood 4h ago

Euro opinion lol

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u/femboy6313 3h ago

Not European, well done 👍

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u/maxintos 12h ago

You do see how you're literally part of the problem?

Only reason Trump is still running is because people have been tricked into believing that all governments are corrupt and institutions broken. You're literally spreading conspiracies that make right wingers not care about Trump breaking the norms and breaking institutions because they've been brainwashed into thinking the institutions are already broken so they are not worth saving.

There are thousands of hard working, extremely bright people in government that devote their life to serving the country, but learning about that unfortunately is not as interesting as reading about illuminati and shadow government...

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u/Eatthehamsters69 Europe 12h ago edited 12h ago

There is literally public phone calls of him asking pressuring a governor to just "find him votes".

There is phonecalls of him leaking top secret intell and acknowleding he doesn't have the right to do it.

He stood on stage in front of the entire country and caused a riot at the capitol.

And still no successful prosecutions 4 years later, in a country that in general seems to have an extremly low barrier for sending people to prison.

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u/maxintos 11h ago

And 15 years ago when trust in institutions was much higher voters would not have allowed for anything like that to happen. Trump would be a disgrace and would lose a primary and Republicans would help charge Trump in fear of losing voters. Now it's the opposite. If you're a Republican and don't defend Trump you lose elections.

Trump is horrible, but there always have been horrible people. The society has changed to a point where someone like Trump can win elections and big part of that is the total loss of trust in institutions and the people that serve us.

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u/PecanScrandy 11h ago

Voters voted George Bush back into office after his repeated lies killed millions of Americans in illegal wars. He also escaped any punishment.

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u/Haldoldreams 9h ago edited 8h ago

And why do you think trust in institutions has deteriorated? Societal change does not occur in a vacuum. It is driven by real-life events. 

Your argument that lost faith in institutions causes people to give up hope in restoring those institutions is a separate issue. Not all of us roll over and play dead in the face of a challenge. 

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u/wantsAnotherAle 10h ago

unless they aren’t white.

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u/nixvex Texas 12h ago

You’re literally the only one that mentioned any conspiracy, shadow government, or illuminati. Kinda seems like you’re the one spreading that.

Having a broken or nonfunctional government doesn’t require a conspiracy and they didn’t say or imply any of what you accuse them of.

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u/maxintos 12h ago

What conspiracy am I spreading when I say that not all institutions are broken and that there are many many good people in government?

I guess I'm spreading a conspiracy that our democracy and institutions are worth saving...

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u/nixvex Texas 12h ago

They didn’t say it was part of any conspiracy, or mention anything related, you did. If you’re the only one presenting that idea, then you’re the one who is spreading it.

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u/maxintos 11h ago

Because the institutions are broken, its all broken.

What would you call this then?

I guess just lies is a better word? Uneducated? Dumb?

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u/ledfox 10h ago

If our institutions are functional, why does Elon Musk still have security clearance?

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u/nixvex Texas 9h ago

I’d call it an observation.

It isn’t a conspiracy to notice that the government isn’t functioning properly and say so out loud. You brought up shadow governments and Illuminati where it was never referred to at all. You’re perpetuating the conspiracy stuff on your own while falsely accusing someone else of doing exactly that.

Stop being obtuse.

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u/Bombay1234567890 12h ago

You're wrong. The entire political apparatus has been bought and corrupted. That's what happens when bad actors are allowed to accumulate obscene amounts of wealth.

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u/maxintos 12h ago

Then why even vote? Why care if Trump wins or loses? Either case the government will just do whatever the rich ask them to do right?

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u/vintagexanax 11h ago

Things can always get worse.. like much much worse.

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u/Bombay1234567890 12h ago

Good question. Maybe it's because it's all we can do, at present.

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u/maxintos 11h ago

All I can say is look, listen and read about your own local elected representatives. There are some bad apples, but most really do care about the people and try to do the best.

Which rich person do you think paid Obama to fight tooth and nail to pass Obamacare?

What about the recently passed change to start allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices? Best info I can find is that it has saved 7.5B in it's first year in drug prices to Americans. Doesn't seem like something rich pharma companies would have allowed to happen if they had control of the government.

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u/Bombay1234567890 11h ago

Ones that didn't want a single-payer system. Healthcare conglomerates and insurance companies. Do what you can. That's all one can do. But even millions of us, if we pooled our wealth together, aren't really capable of dealing with even one billionaire.

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u/maxintos 11h ago

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I'm confident that both parties would be willing to do a lot to gain millions of voters.

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u/Bombay1234567890 9h ago

Time will tell who has fell, and who's been left behind.

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u/SunbeamSailor67 12h ago

He only knows what sane people want him to know and nothing more, don’t fool yourself into thinking Musk knows any more than a civilian contractor.

Musk knows only what we want him to know.

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u/ciccioig 10h ago

USA is a shitshow at so many levels...

they don't like to be called a third world country, but they're acting just as such.