Vice President JD Vance is clapping along with the MAGA faithful to President Donald Trump's tariffs this week, but in the past he has repeatedly insisted that U.S. manufacturing jobs were not coming back and dismissed efforts to force them to return with tariffs as a futile exercise by "hyper-protectionists," according to a review of his social media posts and interviews over the past several years by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck.
The difference is who the billionaires behind the man are. These newly rich tech bros are obviously more aggressive in the abuse of citizens and dismantling of democracy than the old evil billionaires were, who had probably held their positions of power since the times of plantations and railroads.
When you already have more money than you or your descendants can ever spend, and you have multiple mansions, planes, and superyachts, you start coveting other things.
Now the new hobby among Sociopathic Oligarchs is collecting politicians like Pokemon cards, and certain ones are more valuable, like an elected high level politician. Of course, holding the leash of POTUS (Musk) is the most coveted possession of all, but holding the leash of the VP (Theil) is pretty good, too. Eventually, we’ll see oligarchs assassinating rival politicians, so their personal pet can rise higher in rank, and thus elevate the leash-holder’s status amongst his Sociopathic Oligarch peers.
It sounds like a Neal Stephenson novel, except it’s real life.