Member-only story
Are We A Kleptocracy?
Elon Musk trolls Congress. One Democratic Senator “outs” himself and his colleagues.
Last week, several journalists — I demurred — played a word game proposing to address the question, on January 20, what terminolgy accurately describes the ‘next government’: oligarchy…autocracy…plutocracy… Putinesque? (1,2)
These efforts to normalize by enfranchising what citizens may endure for the next four years and beyond, do not adequately address the political moment, according to the junior Senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, who takes a different slant.
He apologized to his audience.
In a “catching-up-with-in-the-Capitol interview,” with Nicole Wallace recorded live on Dateline: White House, Thursday, December 19 and rerun Sunday, December 22, Murphy explained,
“I was wrong as some of my Democratic colleagues to suggest that we have a choice between democracy and autocracy. We pushed that (narrative) during the ’24 Election. But we don’t have democracy now.” (3)
Despite Elon Musk’s social media attempts to intervene in the deficit ceiling discussion by promising to primary any Congressperson who votes against raising the debt ceiling, Murphy cautioned his colleagues that where America needs to go is beyond where anti-Musk sentiment will take us.