Well, that didn’t last long but perhaps longer than we thought it would.
Actually, Elon Musk was only slated to have a six-month tenure at DOGE, although given the importance of groceries — remember them? — Musk’s sell-by date was always ready to be stamped.
He exits with a meaningless key to the White House and the meaningful opprobrium of all those who have been hurt by him and are now just lying in wait, ready to pounce, as they will forever.
Meanwhile, pundits are wondering what it all meant professionally. Not a lot financially, given that he saved less money than he said he would and that the tax cuts, which will raise the debt by trillions, will nullify any “work” he’s done.
But what has it meant spiritually, if you will? How will he be remembered? Those are a different set of questions.
He’ll be remembered as having been Michael Cohen-ed, and Rudolph Giuliani-ed and Paul Manafort-ed and anyone else-ed who's been burned by the narcissistic sun.
This is what narcissists do best: They reel you in with flattery, promises and maybe even some emoluments, but in the end they will cast you off, particularly if you cross them, and make you the fall guy.
Musk has been exposed, devalued and outflanked. He's the poorer for it, not that that may mean anything to the richest guy in the world, but it may, because when money is the currency of love, it reveals how unloved he is. And his DOGE tenure has damaged a brand (Tesla) and workers, who have something to offer and deserve better.
Like Orestes hounded by the Furies, Musk is about to find out that what you put in motion remains in motion until it returns to you. And for what? What did he accomplish except the ruination of careers and the starvation and the deprivation of the vulnerable?
He took a chainsaw to the government. But it's his career and legacy that have been shredded.