Elon Musk was on Hannity talking about how mean “the Left” was being to him when “all he’s done is try to help the American people by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Check out these reactions to Musk’s Fox News appearance. Jayar Jackson found some great clips to share on this episode his show, The Watchlist.
After the video, you can leave or decide to subject yourself to my incessant rambling about Elon Musk and DOGE. The rest of the content after the separator isn’t the typical Resist Hate “news report,” it’s just — rambling.
Tesla dealership protests
Musk is whining about people on the Left who are protesting at Tesla dealerships. I don't think anyone on the Left is responsible for starting fires or shooting guns into these dealerships. Then again, it could be Antifa.
[One possibile theory: some of the protesters are veterans who are angry after getting fired by Musk and his DOGE crew. That would explain the shooting incidents. Just a thought. (I'm not naive. I realize not every person on “the Left” is a kind, tree-hugging hippie activist. I'm just rambling, remember?)]
Waste, fraud, and abuse: (n) Grant, budget, or other type of funds that are not spent, deposited, or distributed properly; Grant, budget, or other type of funds that are spent, deposited, or distributed in excess (wasted) or for a corrupt purpose (abuse) or fraudulent activities (fraud). See also: money used to offset the trillions of dollars Republicans give billionaires in the form of tax cuts so the American people are not as pissed off. Example 1: “We’re cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from the programs that help low-income American workers — like Medicaid and SNAP — so we can give that money to the rich instead.” Example 2: “$4.5 trillion isn't that much. Besides, we cut $1 trillion in waste, fraud, and abuse to pay for it.”
You should have seen Elon Musk on Hannity. He appeared genuinely shocked that people would be “so mean” after he — and the DOGE staffers — tried to help the American people with their political chainsaw massacre of the federal government.
Musk’s innocent shocked look may not have worked on us, but it definitely had an effect on Republican politicians. They felt sorry for him and angry at the people who made him sad. There were plenty of “freakouts”.
Social Security
Some of the “freakouts” could be an attempt by the Republicans to divert Americans’ attention away from the Social Security offices DOGE is closing. Away from Musk as he puts new policies in place.
Policies like the one that requires elderly and disabled Americans to visit a Social Security office in person to apply for benefits or make changes to benefits they receive, like changing direct deposit information.
I guess it was just too convenient for Americans to have access to most services online. It made us too lazy, huh?
This means there are people living in rural areas who will now have to drive 100+ miles to visit the closest Social Security office.
Again, the people who apply for or currently receive benefits are elderly or disabled.
DOGE fired thousands of federal workers. A former Social Security Administration (SSA) employee said the number of workers that Musk fired from SSA will lead to benefit checks not arriving on time or significant wait times in the few offices still open.
Medicaid Cuts
There are $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid, according to the Republicans' budget framework that recently passed in the House.
Tribal health centers are preparing for a catastrophe when the cuts hit. They say over 50% of people in the communities they serve are on Medicaid.
Nursing home residents whose care is covered by Medicaid could end up getting kicked out. There might be a surge in homelessness among the elderly in our future.
The U.S. Institute of Peace
On Saturday, DOGE staffers, with the help of federal law enforcement, broke into the building of a private nonprofit organization. Congress established the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) as an independent agency under President Ronald Reagan 40 years ago.
George Moose, the CEO of USIP called the Metropolitan (or would it be Capitol? Who cares) Police to report the break-in. Officers showed up, but they kicked USIP staff out of their own building and allowed the DOGE staffers to stay.
USIP is not part of the Executive Branch. President Trump has no authority over it. The building and the land it sits on are owned by the private organization, not the government.
It's the same as if DOGE were to break into a local family’s restaurant and take it over just because it’s in D.C.
The nonprofit has promoted peace and prevented conflict all over the world (Why do bad things always seem to happen to good people?).
[Another possible theory: Putin might have asked Trump to do this. Trump did sign an executive order targeting USIP for cuts. And the board members — now Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth — fired the current CEO so that Trump could install a CEO of his choosing.]
It’s amazing that there are people in the world who are so evil and spiteful that they’d go through all of that hassle just to shut down a private, independent organization that brings peace to regions around the world — and has been for four decades.
Maybe being located in Washington, D.C. was the downfall of USIP. President Trump threatened to withhold funding from the city if Mayor Bowser didn't paint over the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” art on the street and change its name from “Black Lives Matter Plaza” to “Liberty Plaza.” (I’m surprised Trump didn’t pick “America Plaza” or “Plaza of America” or worse, “Trump Plaza.”
The CR Chuck Schumer failed to block from passing in the Senate cut $1 billion from D.C.’s budget.
The Mayor agreed to remove the art and change the street name, so it's not clear why they still cut the city’s budget.
Watching Elon Musk on Hannity is not eliciting emotion from everyone
So forgive us if we watched Elon Musk on Hannity and didn't feel the same sympathy or rage that Republicans did.
He has callously fired thousands of federal workers, a majority of them veterans. Those workers are now going to struggle to find another job after the administration fired them for “poor performance.” They use it to avoid paying unemployment benefits and provide a “cause” for why they fired the employee.
A judge did catch onto their little trick and called the administration out for being unnecessarily cruel. Maybe they shouldn't have used the exact same form letter for every federal worker they fired.
That judge ordered all fired probationary federal workers to be reinstated at certain agencies.
The CDC was one of the agencies, but as of yesterday, the workers were still protesting the firings in front of the CDC building. One of them told reporters they hadn't received an email or phone call yet.
Spare no empathy, pity, or compassion for Elon Musk. No matter how much he whines about the Left “being mean” to him.
