DEAR EDITOR:

Not even one month into the “Trusk” administration, Star Parker (Vindy, 2/6/25) is announcing a new savior: Elon Musk. Why is he uniquely qualified for this messianic role? Because, says Parker, he’s too rich to be tempted by “the Washington culture of quid pro quo.” As usual, Ms. Parker has not thought this through. She’s wrong on at least two counts.

First, there’s only one Messiah, and we all know who that is for the MAGA crowd (recall Trump’s “I alone can save you”?). How long until these two mammoth megalomaniacs realize that they can’t co-exist? I can hear Trump saying (as in the old westerns), “Thar ain’t room in this here White House fer the both of us.”

Second, as for Musk being able to “stand above it all” to do his salvific work, I’d remind Parker that “I may have been born yesterday, but I’ve been up all night.”

The “quid” here is stunningly obvious. What Musk has offered at the MAGA altar is the millions he spent getting Trump elected and the millions more he’s offering to “primary” Republicans who don’t produce the craven fealty that Trump demands. What is the “pro quo” for Musk? Hmm, how about a tax cut?

If Musk were to get a 5% tax break this year, it would put 1.5 billion more into his pockets. By contrast, if my wife and I (both retirees) got our tax burden reduced by 5%, we could use the savings to make… (picture Dr. Evil, pinkie to his mouth) “ONE MONTHLY CAR PAYMENT!”

Does Parker really think that Musk is too rich to be tempted–can’t be drawn into the sleazy, transactional orbit of Donald Trump? When did you last hear a billionaire say, “I’ve made enough money; I’m quitting now”?

As for Musk “saving” Social Security, I’ve been in this “system” (bad word to Parker) all my adult life. I paid into it while my parents got benefits (as they did for their parents). Now my wife and I get checks while our (gainfully employed) kids help to fund the system.

Why are our benefits “sacred” (Parker’s word) but my children must be freed from “failed German socialism”? Social Security is less “socialistic” than car insurance (a “system” into which I’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars that got “transferred” to accident-prone drivers and greed-head insurance execs while I, thankfully, needed to get back only a few hundred dollars). If America actually needs a “savior,” surely we can do better than Musk or Trump.

J. E. JOHNSTON SR.

Poland