The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for December, 2024

We are down to the last month of 2024 and the last two opportunities to recognize superior ass clownery for the year. With this in mind, Der Furor's selection of billionaires, know-nothings, and petty, vengeful creatures for senior positions in and around his new administration offer what we used to call in the Air Force a target-rich environment. And so it is that the award for 

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for December, 2024

is presented to

Elon Musk

Elon Musk, the world's richest man and an entrepreneur with deep financial ties to the federal government because of his provision of Starlink Internet services and, through his SpaceX company, launch services for NASA, cemented his increasing control over your government by spending over a quarter of a billion dollars during the fall to help Der Furor win the presidency. According to reporting by the New York Times,

"Over the course of the race, he gave America PAC [his main Super PAC] a staggering $239 million in both cash and in-kind contributions. In total, Mr. Musk and entities he controls disclosed about $277 million in donations to federal groups this cycle."

Musk spent another $20 million on a super PAC named after late liberal Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, designed to make Der Furor more electorally palatable by minimizing his anti-abortion positions. Justice Ginsburg was well known to despise Der Furor, and a spokesman for her family said that 

“The use of her name and image to support Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, and specifically to suggest that she would approve of his position on abortion, is nothing short of appalling.”

Mr Musk also drew scrutiny by spending $40.5 million on legally questionable checks to voters who signed a petition in support of the Constitution.

And the dollar totals do not include the value of the tsunami of free political advertising and support from X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform owned and controlled by Mr Musk.

Since the election, Musk has been a near-permanent fixture at Mar-a-Lago, all but acting as a shadow president by taking part in Der Furor's discussions with foreign leaders. He has also issued brazenly inappropriate threats to political opponents, threatening criminal sanctions against critics of the new administration. 

Oh, and by the way - under US law it is illegal for Elon Musk to make campaign contributions. Check it out: 53 USC 30119a(1). 

If you are a fan of oligarchy, if you are one of those people who believes that billionaires are best suited to make decisions that affect us all, Elon Musk is your guy. If you are an American citizen concerned over the degree of influence a single ultra-wealthy individual exerts over your government, you should worry.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for December, 2024, is Elon Musk - a man whose deep pockets have bought himself a government with the willing acquiescence of the GOP and an American electorate blithely ignorant of the danger.

Have a good day, and watch carefully what happens as your government falls more and more under the influence of an unelected megalomaniac ... who has the support of the duly-elected megalomaniac. 

And hope that the 2026 midterm elections are not too late to begin reversing the decay.

Have a good day and be sure to come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday, because we all need a laugh nowadays. 

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo