There is ample evidence everywhere you look that we live in the worst timeline. Convicted felon Donald Trump is yet again heading for the white house. He’s blatantly stacking his cabinet with sycophants and yes men, and appointing folks like billionaire Elon Musk to governmental roles they have no business holding. But even in the darkest hour, we can still find some humor.
Satirical newspaper The Onion snapped up Alex Jones’ crazed conspiracy podcast in a glorious F-you to the heartless right-wing grifter. And on its heels, the popular anti-political correctness card game Cards Against Humanity finally gets to cash in on a promise made more than 4 years ago — but rather than sticking it to Trump, it’s Musk getting the shaft.
In a TikTok shared by one of the original backers, @undepeteable5, the delight over the card game’s shenanigans couldn’t be more evident. All the way back in 2017, Chicago-based company Cards Against Humanity hosted the “Cards Against Humanity Saves America” campaign. One hundred and fifty thousand people donated $15 bucks to get a special set of cards and put their money where their political ideals are. The campaign came with 6 days of promises, including purchasing a lot of land along the US/Mexico border.
Preparing for a fight with Trump’s administration and its obsession with erecting a hideous and ecological monster of a wall, it secured the services of a law firm that exclusively worked on Eminent Domain cases. Their only hope was that, when it came time for Trump to finish that border wall, their land would be an impossibly frustrating legal quagmire.
Eminent Domain allows the government to take a private plot of land — even if the owner doesn’t want to sell. The Fifth Amendment stipulates that the land must be for “public use,” and the owner must be adequately compensated. Things like roads, public utilities, or government buildings typically qualify — but the law varies from state to state depending on how aggressively the local governments have protected individual rights.
The company knew it could never stop Trump’s border wall, but it promised to “do everything we can to protest the wall and slow down the process of eminent domain.” Trump’s border wall project was only mildly successful according to the CATO Institute, and it never reached the parcel secured by Cards Against Humanity.
CAH never got the chance to extend a courteous F-you to Trump, but Musk’s SpaceX — a federally contracted space technology company — has stepped right on the trap. Located just three miles away from the SpaceX property, the parcel was a convenient place for a man who clearly cares very little for the rule of law to expand his business. CAH issued a statement saying SpaceX was, “essentially steal[ing] the Property from CAH without remorse or even explanation.” CAH filed a $15 million civil lawsuit against SpaceX in September.
Musk is worth an eye-watering $309 billion, so $15 million is hardly a drop in his bucket. It’s less than 0.015% of his wealth, literally pennies on the dollar. The lawsuit might not impact Musk’s business or lifestyle at all, but it’s still refreshing to see.
Published: Nov 15, 2024 03:46 pm