It's worse than the 1890s

In the 1890s U.S. Senators were appointed by state legislatures.  The “trusts”–railroads, oil, steel, and others–could buy Senators on the open markets, or so it seemed.  At least in the “gilded age” there was more than one “trust,” and they sometimes didn’t agree.  

Now one man can buy a state Supreme Court.  In the Wisconsin Supreme Court race a super PAC funded by Elon Musk has already spent 2.3 million on text messages, digital advertisements, and paid canvassers to win a state Supreme Court seat for a former Republican state attorney general. He is running against Susan Crawford, a judge who in her private practice once represented Planned Parenthood.  

How do you fight that when newspapers are defunct, cable news is full of talking heads who say nothing, and most voters get their info from Facebook, X, and other “social media.”  Elon Musk, with his Nazi salutes and apartheid background, is a cancer on the body politic.

Some info is from Reid J. Epstein, “Musk’s Millions Buoy G.O.P. Candidate in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race," New York Times (Feb. 28, 2025), p. A17.  That “buoy” is not an error.  Had I written the headline, I probably would have spelled it “buy.”