Year: 2024

The Tech-Bros at Home

Sung to the tune of 'Old Folks at Home' or 'Suwanee River'

Pensito Editors

Pensito Illustration

(With apologies to Stephen Foster and thanks to Paul Krugman for coining “Muskaswamy”)

Way down upon the Muskaswamy
Far, far away,
That’s where my H-1B visa takes me —
That’s where the tech-bros play.
Outside the techno-libertarian coalition,
MAGAs sadly roam,
Stuck in mediocre stultification,
Far from the tech-bros at home.

(Chorus)

All along the Muskaswamy,
Brilliant immigrants roam,
Oh, MAGAs how your hearts grow weary,
Far from the tech-bros’ new home.

Trump Can’t Do a Lot of What He Promised, But He Can Bring Panic and Chaos

Buck Banks

“Here’s the thing. Trump doesn’t and won’t have the formal powers to do a lot of the things he talks about doing. He can’t just unilaterally take back the Panama Canal or buy Greenland or make U.S. states out of Canadian provinces. He can’t just toss Liz Cheney in jail. He can’t just end Obamacare and replace it, or lower prices or hand eastern Ukraine over to Russia. He can’t compel companies to end DEI hiring practices or trans-friendly employee policies. And he can’t simply deport 10-20 million residents with the wave of his hand. … But he definitely thinks he can do at least some of this. And more importantly, he can create a lot of chaos and panic in the process.”

— Seth Masket for Tusk

Fox News Crushes Cable Competition

Buck Banks

72%

Associated Press: “After election night through Dec. 13, the prime-time viewership of MSNBC was an average of 620,000, down 54% from the pre-election audience this year, the Nielsen company said. For the same time comparison, CNN’s average of 405,000 viewers was down 45%. … At Fox News Channel, a favorite news network for Trump fans, the post-election average of 2.68 million viewers is up 13%, Nielsen said. Since the election, 72% of the people watching one of those three cable networks in the evening were watching Fox News, compared to 53% prior to election day.”

Have Yourself a Trumpy Little Christmas

Buck Banks

$$$

Washington Post: “It’s a little late for this year’s celebrations, but you can get a very early jump on next year and count down with the $38 Trump Advent calendar. Or trim the tree with a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble or a $16 MAGA hat ornament, sold in nine colors. (A glass version of the hat ornament is $92.) Stuff stockings with an $86 ‘GIANT Trump Chocolate Gold Bar’ and a $22 pair of candy cane socks printed with ‘Trump.’ Prepare a holiday feast with a $14 Trump Christmas tree pot holder and $28 Trump apron featuring Santa waving an American flag. … The profits from these holiday trinkets do not benefit a political committee or a charitable cause, but the Trump Organization, the Trump family’s privately owned conglomerate of real estate, hotel and lifestyle businesses.