Look, another oligarch is thinking about playing politics! It’s everyone’s favorite online payment entrepreneur, vampire, Hogan-puppeteer and gawker-crusher…
… Peter Thiel.
The outspoken Silicon Valley billionaire and Trump supporter has been discussing a prospective run with advisers. [politico]
See how gently the media lays its virtue down before the new oligarch? He’s “outspoken” – not “raving asshole.” Remember the old saying “Poor people are crazy, rich people are ‘eccentric’?” Thiel, apparently, is rich enough that he’s not even eccentric, he’s just outspoken.
Adding fuel to the speculation: Thiel raised eyebrows this week when he granted a rare interview to The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. In the interview, he outlined his political worldview and explained his support for Trump. (At one point, Thiel said, perhaps jokingly, that he’d be “fine” with California seceding. “I think it would be good for California, good for the rest of the country. It would help Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign,” he added.)
Aaaaa, haaa haaaa haaaaa He’d be “fine” with California seceeding because it wouldn’t hurt him. In fact, he’d be one step closer to being King of California. By the way, Mr Thiel, I have an alternative suggestion for America: Give California Back To The Indigenous Tribes. Or Mexico. Remember Mexico? Did you see the breathtaking, callousness of his quip? He’s willing to throw the entire state of California under a bus in order to improve Trump’s chances of re-election! I sure hope that if he runs, voters remember that.
He isn’t the only billionaire who may run. Environmentalist Tom Steyer, a prolific giver to Democratic causes, is also seen as a possible contender.
Après Trump, Le Déluge.
Admini
California seceding wouldn’t be getting thrown under the bus as much as it’d be escaping a bus driven by a maniac. Liberals and Democrats are too incompetent, too ‘nice’ (except to leftists, who they hate), and too hidebound by tradition to help much of anyone or offer effective opposition, much less advance a positive agenda.
alkaloid@#1:
Liberals and Democrats are too incompetent
Totalitarians do tend to make the trains run on time.
That’s not an endorsement of totalitarians either, though. Look at how effective they were during Bush. Do you think that they learned anything from that?
alkaloid@#3:
That’s not an endorsement of totalitarians either, though.
I don’t endorse totalitarianism. I don’t think “-ism”s make the trains run on time, in general. All of what we are discussing is ideology. My opinion is that ideologues seldom care that much about their own stated beliefs, they’re mostly interested in power and control and it hardly matters how and what. Thiel is probably a good example of the kind of person I mean: he appears to be willing to go to great lengths over a perceived personal insult. He’s not ideological, unless his ideology is “me! me!”
See here about the Russian connections of most US (and non-US) separatist movements these days.
#5, #anat:
I’m sure I’ll disappoint you but I’m not willing to believe that the Russians are responsible for everything (or practically everything). No, I’m not a Trump supporter or a conservative so don’t bother trying that either. I also see this an unfortunately typical by now attempt by liberals to squirm away from an uncomfortable truth-which is that I think you want people to believe in repeating the same forms of resistance that didn’t work against the Bush administration and I don’t think people should believe that at all.
Wouldn’t secession mean California being thrown out from under the bus?
#7, @sonofojblake
imo that’s _exactly_ what it would mean.
Marcus Ranum @ # 2: Totalitarians do tend to make the trains run on time.
In historical fact, Mussolini just banned newspapers & radio from reporting when they ran late.
Pierce R. Butler@#9:
Mussolini just banned newspapers & radio from reporting when they ran late.
And the airlines in the US defined “on time departure” as that the plane moved away from the gate within 15 minutes of its scheduled time. When that wasn’t good enough, they defined “on time departure” as that the walkway was pulled back.
Meanwhile, “Orwellian” is being redefined as meaning “plusgood!”
Thiel? Oh gods, the worse just doesn’t stop coming.
So, in the rich man’s vision of the future, instead of the world having to deal with one big U-SA with nukes and ruled by a madman, there would be lots of little SA, all with nukes and under the control of different, reality-detached madmen?
The voters’ memory proved excellent during the previous election. While there were rather a lot of scandals, stupid, callous and plain evil statements to keep up with, even remembering the tiniest fraction should have stopped everybody from voting Trump in the first place. You know, if the world actually worked that way.
anat @5
Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States?
komarov@#12:
The voters’ memory proved excellent during the previous election
Ow, good point.
Мне всегда говорю, что русские сделали это
Testing….I posted some text in cyrillic, and it didn’t seem to allow it.
Anyway, the gist of it was ‘It was the Russians that did it’
Brian English
hmmm
このコメントは日本語の仮名で書きました。
To Brian English
I see cyrillic in post 15. (At least, I think it’s cyrillic.) Check your browser. Firefox on my PC displays it.
@ 18
Definitely Cyrillic and looks Russian to me but I took my last Russian course 30+ years ago Also using Firefox.