Today in Politics, Bulletin 88. 3/10/25

… It was a bloodbath for Tesla shareholders today as the stock fell off a cliff, which followed a long string of losses in the last several weeks. The stock took a beating, losing an astounding 15.43% of it’s value after a worldwide boycott has taken hold because of people’s hatred of Musk. Tesla shares fell 40.52 to close at 222.15

… The Dow was also down another 890 points today. It is now down 2,514.59 over the last month, as people watch their 401Ks go in the tank.

… Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA): “Trump policies are going to rebuild the middle class. Some short-term Wall Street pain is worth the long-term gain. America will be stronger.”

… After Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) posted a lengthy thread after his trip to Ukraine this week. Musk posted this deranged reply to it: “You are a traitor.”

… What did Kelly post that caused Musk to make such a serious accusation against an Iraq War fighter pilot, astronaut, and Senator? “Just left Ukraine. What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people. Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin. Let me tell you about my trip and why it’s important we stand with Ukraine.”

… “Hospitals should never be targets in war, but Putin is a war criminal who targets hospitals routinely. I visited one in Kyiv. Injured soldiers told me how they want to get back to the fight. Nurses there shared their stories of the invasion with me through tears. Stories of violence that women and children of Ukraine suffered during the invasion. These nurses told me how they witnessed Russian soldiers raping children in front of their parents and then murdering these children in front of their parents. Horrendous war crimes which can never be forgiven. Trump says he trusts Putin and is trying to make him look like a friend and a good guy. I look forward to seeing Putin rot in prison.”

… I met with Ukrainian pilots, one who I had met in AZ when he was learning to fly the F-16. They are flying challenging combat missions against the Russians who are protected by a considerable electronic warfare and surface to air missile system defense. They’ve learned a lot and they are getting better and having more success. When Trump cut off these pilots from US intelligence that they need to plan their missions, he blinded them to the threat and put them and their aircraft at risk. But worse than that, it helps the Russians advance further into Ukrainian territory and murder more Ukrainians. Trump says the Russians are ‘hitting them hard’ in a tone of voice that implies approval. It is sickening to see from an American President. ‘Hitting them hard’ means more dead Ukrainian kids.”

… If we abandon our ally Ukraine, we will be viewed by other countries including our other allies as untrustworthy and in the future we shouldn’t expect their help. As significant as that is, what is a bigger deal is the reaction we would see from China. The Chinese watch everything and they want to take Taiwan. If they view our partnerships and our loyalty to our allies as weak they are more likely to try to take Taiwan by force. If that happens, this President or any future President will have to make one of the most consequential decisions in the history of our country. My goal is to avoid that decision. We avoid that by strengthening our alliances, not weakening them.”

… “The world will become a very cold and lonely place if we continue this ridiculous ‘screw you, go it alone’ foreign policy. It’s dumb and it won’t age well and puts you and your kids and your grandkids at risk. America is the strongest, richest country in the world. We didn’t get there by being bullies like Putin, we got there by leading from the front and bringing our allies. That’s why I’ll continue to share with everyone who will listen why we must keep supporting Ukraine.”

… Kelly later responded to Elon calling him a traitor: “Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”

… People never talk about Mark Kelly as a presidential candidate. I think they should. He would be a fantastic matchup for Democrats against JD Vance - I think he would beat him in Arizona and Georgia, and not many Dems whose names are being tossed around for the nomination could do that.

… Russian state media is complaining about a video posted by “Ukrainian TikTok Witches” who were “putting death curses on JD Vance.” There was a 0.0% chance that I wasn’t going to watch the video after that description.

… The video showed several Ukrainian women who were putting pins in a photo of Vance. The photo was placed in a shallow grave in front of a wooden cross, and the pins were taken out of the cross and stuck into the Vance photo. It was then buried by the women. It’s not like he didn’t ask for it.

… Polish PM Donald Tusk responded to Musk insulting his Foreign Minister and combat veteran Radek Sikorski, calling him a ‘small man’: “True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones. Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it.”

… Musk’s X social media platform was down for a few hours today. When it finally came back, Musk posted: “There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against 𝕏. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved. Tracing …”

… Former Trump NSA and General Michael Flynn said Deep State operatives in the CIA hacked X: “Check to see if the CIA was acting behind the scenes first before going off on China or Russia please. There is a silent war still on going inside of the US to undermine the admin of Donald Trump.”

… Right-wing influencer Mike Cernovich: “These terrorist attacks against Elon Musk’s companies are a direct act of war on America.”

… Musk pal Tom Renz says it was George Soros: “We are digging. Dark Storm Team is reported to be tied to Russia but the group seems to have a lot in common with Soros and some of the leftist anti-American groups that hate Trump and the work of Elon Musk and DOGE.”

… Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO): “They tried to bankrupt and jail Trump. They’re now coming after Elon Musk, Tesla and X. It won’t stop with there. These are the tactics of communists. They’d rather burn it all down than lose power. Now’s the time to take a stand. The stakes couldn’t be any higher.”

… Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN): “He can’t even keep his hellscape of a social platform online … yet Republicans trust him with the keys to all of our data?”

… Vanity Fair reported that protests have been raging across the country outside Tesla showrooms, dealerships, and charging stations. Musk posted that he thinks Soros is behind it: “An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla protests: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America. ActBlue funders include George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman, and Leah Hunt-Hendrix.”

… Forbes: “There is no evidence linking Soros or Hoffman to the Tesla protests. ActBlue does not fund groups, but instead is a platform through which donors can give money to campaigns or organizations.”

At the end of today’s Bulletin, I explain in some detail the process I use to research and put this together each day. I also explain the sources of info that are most useful to me as well as those who aren’t all that important. Also, if you missed the weekend bulletin yesterday, you can read it here.

… CNN reported that, in addition to Trump’s tariffs and other factors impacting the economy, another factor that hasn’t been widely reported in his deportations. US companies in agriculture, construction and health care are losing employees to