Democrats are the political equivalent of mafia bosses who basically run protection rackets. 

"Nice company you have there. Shame if something happened to it."

We saw a lot of this behavior over the past few years. One of the techniques used to bully social media companies into censorship was the use of open (and private) threats to use antitrust laws to break up Meta, Twitter, Google and all the tech companies if they did not comply with demands to suppress the speech of conservatives and, frankly, anybody including dissenting Democrats. 

Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennett are trying the same thing by going after people and companies that contributed to the Trump inaugural. 

it was a personal contribution as you state; i am confused about the questions given that my company did not make a decision.

— Sam Altman (@sama) January 17, 2025

These contributions are standard practice. Obama took millions of dollars from donors, including the companies Warren and Bennet are targeting. So did Joe Biden, even though all the inaugural hoopla was very muted due to insane COVID policies. Presidential libraries get showered with money and no doubt Biden will do his best to vacuum up all that sweet dough once he leaves office. 

But, in the eyes of progressives, this time, it's different. 

Because Trump. Orange Man Bad, and hence doing anything to suck up to him is by its very nature corrupt. Contributing to Biden and buying his son's paintings. 

There really is no depth to which the progressives will not go, and if you subject yourself to the rantings of leftists on TV or social media, you will find little but accusations that Trump is extorting compliance from scared victims who are afraid he will destroy their lives or their companies if they don't pay tribute. 

During Trump's first term, these tactics worked, partly because the #resistance within the federal government could be counted upon to sabotage Trump and help the Democrats. Everybody knew that Trump was a one-off, so working to undermine him didn't seem that dangerous compared to offending The Swamp. 

This time, not so much. Once Elon Musk broke the taboo of working with Trump, the barrier to doing so fell to dust. 

Perhaps I am too optimistic about the seeming collapse of support for progressive ideas in the general public, but it sure looks like Trump's magic has been working once again. Elizabeth Warren has always been a crazy leftist harridan, but now she seems to be a crazy leftist harridan with no ability to intimidate. 

Sam Altman, who will likely shoot up the ranks of the world's wealthiest men due to his leading-edge position in the AI market, clearly isn't scared of her. I doubt any of the companies and men she is targeting are either. 

Protection rackets only work if the victims are intimidated, and the intimidation seems to be wearing off. 

The world is healing, although it has taken it long enough. One of the most frustrating things, I find, is predicting disaster, watching it unfold, and only after the maximum damage is done does anybody start paying attention, as if it was all a shock. 

Trump warned that California would burn down years ago, and the Democrats laughed. Now it's happening, and Californians are waking up to the wages of leftism and noticing that backing leftists might not have been such a good idea. 

Los Angeles elected an actual communist, and now they are surprised to see she is incompetent?

Who could have guessed?