this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2025
180 points (99.5% liked)
Leopards Ate My Face
6814 readers
1009 users here now
Rules:
- The mods are fallible; if you've been banned or had a post/comment removed, please appeal.
- Off-topic posts will be removed. If you don't know what "Leopards ate my Face" is, try reading this post.
- If the reason your post is on-topic isn't in the article or self-explanatory, you must use a second (high-quality) source to explain why your post fits the criteria.
- Articles should be high-quality sources. For a rough idea, check out this list. If it's marked in red, it probably isn't allowed; if it's yellow, exercise caution.
- For accessibility reasons, an image of text must either have alt text or a transcription in the post body.
- Reposts within 1 year or the Top 100 of all time are subject to removal.
- This is not exclusively a US politics community. You're encouraged to post stories about anyone from any place in the world at any point in history as long as you meet the other rules.
- All Lemmy.World Terms of Service apply.
Also feel free to check out !leopardsatemyface@lemm.ee (also active).
Icon credit C. Brück on Wikimedia Commons.
_portrait.jpg){kind=link}
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Alternative take, this is all staged to keep you entertained while other stuff are going on.
Even the whole Elon leaving, then feuding live on twitter is so closed to wrestling and people are so entertained (me included tbh) rather than questioning or fighting.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe
It could be a bit of both. Somehow I don’t think Trump would agree to Elon publicly calling him a pedo.
They really are not that smart or disciplined. They have plenty of other obviously distracting stuff going on and they have all the branches of government so it isn't like they really need distractions anyway.
Let's stop giving them credit for playing 4d chess. The figureheads are selfish assholes who can't get along but are useful idiots for the owners of the Republican party. That is explanation enough.
Or they are just a bunch of stupid people and they do what stupid people do
True
Genuinely, I don't believe trump or elon are capable of that level of acting at this point.
Seriously, the two biggest man babies on the planet had a disagreement and are having pissing match on the internet. Is that hard to believe? I don't get the people pushing this "THIS IS ACTING" crap either. Elon FOR SURE couldn't.
There's no nefarious shit to distract you from because there's too much nefarious shit for you to keep track of WITHOUT the arguments.
A bit of column A, a bit of column B.
This is their whole shtick: constantly manufacturing more outrage and "engagement". Yes, the personal grievances, egomania and narcissism are real. But it's just what they do. Throwing shit at the wall, and if something sticks, decide what to do with it. It's not acting per se but it has method. Very simple, very primitive, only half-coscious method, but a method it is.
And surely meanwhile somebody behind them is using the opportunity to actively dismantle US democracy - more focused, but essentially still using the same "method".
This situation is certainly beneficial for Trump, as it places him back in the spotlight and generates conversation. It's also advantageous for Elon, as people flock to Twitter for updates and discussions. Additionally, the ongoing debate about whether to borrow more money allows Elon to position himself as the "good" guy advocating for the right side.
The more I analyze it, the more it seems like a manufactured outrage aimed at boosting engagement.
You know, they figured out a long time ago that smart people weren't any better at getting to the truth in emotional contexts, because a smart person can just think up more logical reasons for why the reason they want to be true is true.
The human brain is primarily emotional, not intellectual. We receive stimuli, the brain decides the most appropriate emotion to respond to the stimulus with, and then generates reasoning post hoc. This, btw, is why Trump can be so successful despite his obvious bullshittery - he creates an emotional response in his followers, and then leaves the reasoning up to them.
What is happening to you is that your brain has been trained to associate news of Trump with fear and distress. So since the emotional response can't possibly be wrong (according to your brain), you keep looking for ways to make it seem reasonable until you find some.
Take a step back and realize that the most likely outcome here is good. When narcissistic egomaniacs gain power, they must contend with the fact that their power only exists with the help of the spinless syncophants, backstabbing snakes, and other narcissistic egomaniacs they brought with them. Once they gain the top position, there isn't much to keep them distracted from backstabbing and infighting. There is no real belief in higher ideals that ties everyone together - just pure self interest. So once their self interests conflict - even over such minor things as perceived slights - they start to spin out, and can no longer effectively collaborate.
Even some dark, shadow-y puppeteer is unlikely to benefit from this. Maybe their dark, shadow-y plans are largely unaffected, and there is a small chance that the random chaos of conflict will help them.... But people achieve things - including nefarious things - by making and executing long term plans which universally depend on some level of stability in the environment. Of course, you don't raise to the level of top-tier villainy with a pessimistic can't-do attitude. A good evil capitalist should always look at situations with an eye towards their opportunities - but objectively, this will be a setback for anyone banking on Trump or Musks political influence, or the effectiveness of the Trump administration to create real and lasting change in the name of evil.
at the very least they couldn't fake a fight without it becoming a real one
I don't think so. The people who enjoy the fight are precisely the ones who despise them for what they did -and still do- in a political level.
And those exact people are now a little calmer because stuff is less shitty suddenly, they were right it won't last and a plethora other reasons.
A dangerous position to find yourself in while the people are still in power.
Might be true, might be just a red herring.