I know this is damning to admit here, but back when I was willing to watch Joe Rogan I distinctly remember during Elon's episode (the one where he hit a joint and tanked Tesla stock, not the latest one), the topic went to electric airplanes. Elon was talking technical about it and Joe was sitting there wide-eyed like he was revealing the secrets of the weave of the universe, sure that aerospace was going to be revolutionized by this man.

Maybe I'm the stupid one here, but I'm pretty sure he was just talking about how airfoils generate lift. You know, the stuff the Wright brothers figured out in the 19-aughts. Its in high school physics textbooks.

This is a party full of ancient people. "A series of tubes" party.

Hey now, I’m not that old.

I've always thought that Elon Musk is a stupid person's idea of what a smart person acts and looks like.

He never really says anything of substance, but he says it while using big words and some unfamiliar accent (at least unfamiliar to those idolizing). That's enough for many really stupid people. The fact he always pretends to be thinking about anything for the first time completes the aesthetic.

A similar effect can be seen with Trump himself. A lot of dumb people read his nonsensical, stream of consciousness rambling style as intelligence. To someone with a brain, Trump is clearly just babbling with no overall point, except maybe repeating sound bites. But to many of his supporters, the fact he jumps around so much means they can't keep up, and if they can't keep up, welp, he must be real smart.

This is pretty standard, and not limited to Republicans. A significant part of Jordan Peterson's appeal came through the same process.

Hey, don't paint mister Series of Tubes with that brush, that analogy is still more accurate than 99% of the bullshit about the internet coming out of DC

I think it's just secular prosperity gospel. He's rich, therefore he must be smart. Right?

I would never be a Luigi because i couldn't take a life, but i'd LOVE to have some more Luigis

It's definitely the case that the joke's on us.

Interestingly, no. There's never been one who wasn't, but there's no actual law that says so. Some people floated the idea of appointing Donald then impeaching and convicting Biden and Harris on some bogus charge (or assassinating them, but that was usually an unsaid "wink wink, nudge nudge") to get him back in. Musk should be out of the line of succession for President at least if it does happen though since unless I'm mistaken the "natural born citizen" part of the requirements still stands

This is one of those Air Bud moments where they point out that there's no rule saying an unelected person CAN'T be speaker...

One problem with government is that there are lots of unspoken rules that have been followed as tradition but never formalized.

By convention, not by law

The Constitution does not explicitly require the speaker to be an incumbent member of the House of Representatives, although every speaker thus far has been, and as a member the speaker also represents their district and retains the right to vote.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives

Since Elon is a naturalized citizen he'd be skipped in the line of succession. Unless the Republicans want to go ahead and wipe with the constitution.