Affirmation of my long-held thesis that these 2 guys are very similar.
While not identical, I also find a lot of similarities:
- Both multi-billionaires in the quarter-of-a-dozen-to-two-dozen billion dollars range (today's edge is about ERM=3.000000DJT according to Google quoting Forbes (you almost think they made those numbers exactly 3.000000000 on purpose))
- Both big thinkers (POTUS, colonizing and terraforming a planet and converting another planet's energy systems to be completely clean, etc.)
- Both embracing modern communications (Twitter)
- Both dynamic speakers
That's why I think they would both get along. If ERM talked to DJT about colonizing Mars, DJT would think it was a huge ego stroke to be a part of that, and also to compete against other countries for Mars colonization (America First, or at least America with Some Feet In The Door). Also, the energy and transportation business landscape is transforming, and as Tesla is in the business of the future version of that, and China also has competing companies in that space, ERM could explain that to DJT and get DJT to think that as part of an America-First policy, it being consistent to not only do some local (in-USA) manufacturing, but also have a significant market share capability in that area (future as well as present).
I think they could both get along quite well. Elon, personally, seems to come across a lot less adversarial (in his speech during the Solar City - Tesla merger vote) than his tweets come out being. I also know there's a similar difference between Donald's public demeanor (and his tweets) and the way he discusses things personally. I wonder how much cooperation they could do and commonalities and even friendship they could have that could benefit not only their own selves but their respective workplaces, USA, the world, and humans. (I've already been an advocate of this many times here, so I'm not stating anything new from me.)
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Ok, about the anti-Tesla anti-Elon anti-SpaceX PAC's: at some point, various people will have to gauge how much of an annoyance this will be and how much resources to put into studying and refuting this. At this point, this seems like the crud that just flies around when you're doing work. My analogy right now is that in construction, one puts on safety gear before using a jack hammer, and stuff sometimes flies around. You even step in some old sewer impregnated dirt in some old construction sites. There's bound to be some of that. But, occasionally, somebody forgets to mark a pipe line and somebody else forgets to double-check whether the pipe line has been marked and the jackhammer hits the pipe line. Mostly, that doesn't happen, and the laborers clean up the mess like it never existed. I'm going to revisit this if this gets real traction; unless that happens, I can't be bothered.
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Here's an update, thanks to
@Curt Renz in the short term thread:
Trump softens position on climate change, Clinton investigation
On Tuesday, Trump told the Times he thinks there is "some connectivity" between human activity and climate change, reporter Mike Grynbaum tweeted. “It depends on how much," the reporter quoted Trump as saying.
Asked whether the United States will withdraw from climate change accords, Trump said: “I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it," the reporter tweeted.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also said on Tuesday he was thinking about climate change and American competitiveness and "how much it will cost our companies,” the reporter said, without elaborating.
That's practically an invitation from Trump to Elon for Elon to come visit Trump.
I hope Elon understands this.
