The Battle of Og and Magog

Musk trumps Trump

Reality exceeds fiction in the rise of Elon Musk as a gargantuan change agent. His X rated megaphone reaches over 200 million. First there were over 100 tweets condemning the bipartisan extension of government funding. Trump took the bait and supported Musk’s view raising the shibboleth of a debt limit suspension. Republican fiscal conservatives rebelled and killed the idea, for now. In the end the House and Senate agreed to fund the government for a while and include necessary relief for farmers.

Musk followed up by injecting himself into Germany’s government convulsion, when he endorsed the neo-Nazi right-wing extremist party, Alt fur Deutschland, claiming it’s policies were the best way forward for the economy. This ploy has engendered a tide of shock and hostility. Germany has done handsprings to avoid a governing role for AfD. Tesla sales in Germany are way down.

Now the stage is set for a possible conflict between megalomania and narcissism. Will President Elect Trump tolerate or condone Musk’s unbridled unilateral assumption of policy influence? His reaction may be tempered by caution given Musk’s X- based power not to mention his $200 million plus contribution to the campaign. Musk’s opinions are engendering resentment within the Republican establishment and reducing his value to Trump.

But Trump is not known for tolerance or for sharing the center stage. How long will the immigrant from South Africa be welcome at the Mar a Lago dinner table?