Opinion
Peter Thiel: The Silicon Valley billionaire made big—and early—bets on Trump and J.D. Vance. What did he see that so many didn’t?
News release from The Free Press
Triumph of the Counter-Elites
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On Tuesday night, Donald Trump announced that the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, along with the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, will head a new initiative in the Trump administration: the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE.” Internet meme culture has now landed in the White House. Dogecoin is a memecoin—and if you don’t understand that sentence, fear not—I am sure Nellie will cover it in TGIF tomorrow. But what the announcement solidifies—if Trump’s win hadn’t already—is the triumph of the counter-elite. A bunch of oddball outsiders ran against an insular band of out-of-touch elites supported by every celebrity in Hollywood—and they won. They are about to reshape not just the government, but also the culture in ways we can’t imagine. How they did that—and why—is a question that I’ve been thinking about nonstop since Tuesday. And there was one person, more than any other, who I wanted to discuss it with. He is the vanguard of those antiestablishment counter-elites: Peter Thiel. If you listened to my last conversation with the billionaire venture capitalist a year and a half ago on Honestly, you’ll remember that Peter was the first person in Silicon Valley to publicly embrace Trump in 2016. That year, he gave a memorable speech at the Republican National Convention that many in his orbit thought was simply a step too far. He lost business at Y Combinator, the start-up incubator where he was a partner. Many prominent tech leaders criticized him publicly, like VC and Twitter investor Chris Sacca, who called Thiel’s endorsement of Trump “one of the most dangerous things” he had ever seen. A lot has changed since then. For one, Thiel has taken a step back from politics—at least publicly. He didn’t donate to Trump’s campaign. There was no big RNC speech this time around. But the bigger change is a cultural one: He’s no longer the pariah of Silicon Valley for supporting Trump. There’s Bill Ackman, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Shaun Maguire, and Elon Musk, among many other tech titans who have joined the Trump train. On the surface, Thiel seems full of contradictions. He is a libertarian who has found common cause with nationalists and populists. He invests in companies that have the ability to become monopolies, and yet Trump’s White House wants to break up Big Tech. He is a gay American immigrant, but he hates identity politics and the culture wars. He pays people to drop out of college, but still seems to venerate the Ivy League. But perhaps that’s the secret to his success. He’s beholden to no tribe but himself, no ideology but his own. And why wouldn’t you be when you make so many winning bets? From co-founding PayPal and the data analytics firm Palantir (which was used to find Osama bin Laden) to being the first outside investor in Facebook—Thiel’s investments in companies like LinkedIn, Palantir, and SpaceX have paid off, to say the least. His most recent bet—helping his mentee J.D. Vance get elected senator and then on the Trump ticket—seems also to have paid off. The next four years will determine just how high Thiel’s profit margin will be. On Honestly, Thiel explains why so many of his peers have finally come around to Trump; why he thinks Kamala—and liberalism more broadly—lost the election; why the Trump 2.0 team, with antiestablishment figures willing to rethink the system, will be better than last time. We talk about the rise of historical revisionism, the blurry line between skepticism and conspiracy, and his contrarian ideas about what we might face in a dreaded World War III. Click below to watch the full-length video.
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Daily Caller
‘This Is So Disgusting’: Joe Rogan Unloads On Gavin Newsom For ‘Creepy’ Behavior In Front Of Wildfire Wreckage
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By
Podcast host Joe Rogan slammed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday and condemned remarks that Newsom made amidst the still active and devastating wildfires.
Those fires erupted in the coastal town of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles County and subsequently spread to Altadena near Eaton Canyon. “The Joe Rogan Experience” host criticized what he said was Newsom’s inappropriate demeanor and how he timed his comments, especially as affected families grappled with the total loss of their homes and personal memories.
“The governor gave this creepy speech where he was talking about speculators coming in. And talking about what to do with the land of all these homes that have been burnt down. It’s still only 6% contained. He did this little dance like I’ve been talking with these, you know, with the governor of Hawaii about what to do. We got some ideas,” Rogan said.
Rogan also said that there are broader issues of mismanagement in California’s approach to wildfire prevention and response. He criticized the state for not taking preventative measures like brush clearing and reservoir management.
“The fire insurance pulled out of California like, I think, like 69% of fire insurance pulled out of California because they’re, like, this is too crazy. Like you guys aren’t doing jack to manage this. You’re not clearing the brush. The amount of money they could have saved by just clearing brush. By filling the reservoir, that 11-million-gallon reservoir was completely empty during the time of full fire season. Like, why didn’t you fix that?” Rogan asked.
As Los Angeles County battles wildfires, Newsom faces intense online criticism for his odd shuffle during a local television interview. On Monday, the governor appeared on Los Angeles’ Fox affiliate, discussing the crisis amidst the scorched ruins.
Newsom, while addressing the likelihood of property speculators targeting fire-stricken neighborhoods, smiled broadly and performed a shoulder shimmy.
Rogan said Newsom behaved in a manner that was “disgusting”
From LifeSiteNews
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has shuttered its Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI) ahead of the executive branch’s handover from Joe Biden to Donald Trump, in what critics suspect was a move to destroy records before they could be reviewed by the former agency heads’ political opponents.
“We believe that differences in thought and belief, in race and religion, in orientation, and in ability contribute to more effective decision making, drive innovation, and enhance the employee experience,” the FBI declares, as reported by Fox News. “We know that a more diverse workforce allows us to connect with and maintain the trust of the American people. We also understand we have work to do. We stand committed, as today’s FBI, to fostering a culture of inclusivity and diversity.”
The bureau confirmed to Fox this week that it actually closed the office in December, without elaborating why. But while the elimination of the office is welcome news to conservatives, questions remain.
“We demand that the FBI preserve and retain all records, documents, and information on the now closing DEI Office—Never should have been opened and, if it was, should have closed long ago,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Why is it that they’re closing one day before the Inauguration of a new Administration? The reason is, CORRUPTION!”
The infusion of left-wing “diversity” priorities into every facet of government has been one of the most controversial aspects of the outgoing administration, as has the politicization of law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, from targeting peaceful pro-life activists for federal prosecution, to meeting with social media companies to collude on what speech the government wants censored, to branding “radical-traditionalist” Catholics as an alleged potential threat.
Fox notes that the FBI still has numerous identity-based entities, such as the American Indian and Alaska Native Advisory Committee, Asian Pacific American Advisory Committee, Black Affairs Diversity Committee, Bureau Equality, Hispanic Advisory Board, Near and Middle East Advisory Committee, Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee, Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee, Women’s Advisory Committee, Blacks in Government, FBI African American Millennials, FBI Family, FBI Jewish Americans, FBI Latinos for Empowerment Advancement and Development, “FBI Pride,” Federal Asian Pacific American Council, and Federally Employed Women.
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