this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2025
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Google is the latest California-based tech giant to make a major donation to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, which will take place on Jan. 20, or Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

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[–] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 27 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Anybody who thought any corporation is going to "do the right thing": Exhibit A why we've been telling you that's fucking wrong all this time.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 6 hours ago

Anybody who thought any corporation is going to "do the right thing":

These same bootlickers did not need a union until google started laying them off...

[–] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 hours ago

A? Surely we've exhausted the alphabet by now.

[–] blattrules@lemmy.world 22 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

This many billionaires and big companies grouping together doesn’t seem like it’s going to be good for us.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 9 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

always has been.jpeg

I am wondering why they are getting this brazen and in our face about corruption as if they are seeing how far they can push and how much the pedons can take

Narrator's voice:

The peasants took a lot and then said this is fine, and got even more

[–] MysticKetchup@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

I am wondering why they are getting this brazen and in our face about corruption as if they are seeing how far they can push and how much the pedons can take

Because they know they can get away with it. Trump got elected and even won the popular vote despite being the most obviously incompetent and corrupt president we've ever had so now they know there are no consequences

[–] blattrules@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

I think they’re seeing trump as a tool they can use if they play his game, so they’re all falling in line. They’re too big that it’s not going to hit their bottom line much and no one in government is going to stop them, so maybe they’re just going to grab as much as they can while they have the opportunity and that requires them to be brazen.

[–] Disaster@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 hours ago

Because they are scared, and hiding behind the skirts of a paper-thin layer of incompetent fascists prior to facing the music from everybody they've hurt.

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 80 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

So... we're just doing blatant bribery out in the open now?

Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 54 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

The Supreme Court, who are corrupt and take bribes, ruled that bribes are legal. Also that even if they weren't, the law doesn't apply to the President.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 6 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

This still doesn't fall within their rules. The bribe has to be paid after service for it to be legal.

So for example, if you're a purchasing agent for the army and you have to buy new canvas tents. A manufacturer could tell you if you make the award, they will personally pay you $20 per tent purchased. But they supposedly can't come with 20k in hand and say here you go! Now I get the award for 10,000 tents.

[–] kautau@lemmy.world 7 points 7 hours ago

You’re correct, this is the even better kind of legal bribery: lobbying. “Donating” to a cause for favorable rulings later

[–] aleq@lemmy.world -5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Seems this is a common thing. Found this and also Claude (the LLM) tells me it goes very far back and kinda got very big around Reagan's time. Allegedly Obama had some restrictions on his first term, but these were lifted on second term, but I haven't bothered to verify that.

However, the answer is yes. Just that it seems to be nothing new.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 19 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Claude (the LLM) tells me

Humanity is fucking doomed.

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works -2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Hey, at least some people are citing their sources.

How often do people say stuff like that without telling others where it came from? It's easy enough to accept things as true if they sound reasonable. Having a source means that grain of salt is already there.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 13 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Giving a LLM as a source is like giving your hair dresser as a source for things not related to hair dressing, because LLMs are trained on random people's online posts mixed in with actual knowledgeable people's posts.

Saying they got info from a LLM makes them less credible that someone who might actually know what they are talking about. They basically admit they don't have the ability to think for themselves and are just trying to promote using LLMs.

[–] essteeyou@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

It's not a good source, but knowing they got it from there is useful information.

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 38 points 10 hours ago (3 children)

Uh, why? Why does the inauguration need money? Isn't that a thing the state pays for?

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 4 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

It would be if the administration signed an ethics declaration.

[–] latenightnoir@lemmy.world 37 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

In Ye Olden Days, minor Lords used to pay tribute to anyone who took up the crown/took over the lands, to get on their good side. That's actually where the Romanian word for "tip" (bacșiș) comes from, it's what they called tribute payments to the Ottoman Empire.

Why should this be any different? I mean, it's Trump...

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 12 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

Yeah, I get that. It's just bizarre for me that this is even a thing someone could donate to.

[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

They're purchasing influence over the POTUS. The event itself doesn't matter to them or Trump; it's just one many pathways to get their bribe into his pockets.

Completely legal, cuz our laws are made by folks who are also for sale.

[–] Signtist@lemm.ee 4 points 7 hours ago

It's America. One of the most common reasons for something to exist here is because it makes money, and this is making a lot of money.

[–] latenightnoir@lemmy.world 8 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Yyyep... I sure wanted to think the XXIst Century would look different, but humans gonna hume, I guess.

I mean, other than improving education just enough to bring workers up to speed with industry requirements, the Powers That Be haven't really changed things around. Those who own rule, the rest of us are just serfs...

[–] mEEGal@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

huh, nice to learn a little etymology once in a while !

any idea how the expression "nebunii ăștia chiar nu mai știu cum să-i sugă pula omului portocaliu" came to be ?

[–] latenightnoir@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

From what I can remember (and I may be wrong, it's been aeons since then), there was a time when Democracy failed and a massive orange prick got elected as head of state for one of the most powerful nations on the planet.

Fun times, those were!

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

Must've been a long time ago, since hardly anyone seems to remember...

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 hours ago

because these assholes need to have their party for rich people

[–] latenightnoir@lemmy.world 16 points 10 hours ago

I miss the lockdowns, life was easier back then... Now the big picture just looks like a planet-wide dumpster fire...

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

reasons why i continue to degoogle my android and my life.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 3 points 6 hours ago

Deny the parasite profit and engagement.

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 9 points 9 hours ago

~~Google~~

*Gargle